Was about a mile from my house coming home from a little shopping trip yesterday, going 55 mph, came up to my turn, slowed down, went to downshift, and...

...

... the dang clutch pedal will NOT press down!!! What the...

...

Somebody please tell me you know exactly what's wrong, cause I don't have a clue (some people say I never did).

...

Edit to add - 84 4-speed, stock.


------------------
Follow me for GAS
------------------

[This message has been edited by Cheever3000 (edited 02-28-2009).]

Sounds like something snapped and jammed in the master cylinder if it's stuck that hard and fast, and happened so suddenly.

Haven't had a master cylinder apart in a while, so I only have general memories of it at the moment, but that's my first impression... probabaly doesn't help much, but there ya go.

------------------
Patrick W. Heinske -- LZeitgeist@aol.com
1988 Red Fiero Formula Convertible
*Desktop Photo Here* (click either link for pics)
click here for my MySpace page

Funny I recently had this happen after the car sat a while... (well it's still sitting as I am collecting some body parts to repair the car from the accident)
clutch was pretty much jammed solid. I actually bent the banjo trying to press it in. found the slave cylinder was fully extended at the
end stop. opened the bleed, it was full of air! pulled the slave rod back til I got fluid, then re-bled the system and it was fine, but I know it won't stay that way. best I can figure is it hasen't moved since warm weather, and this was during a very cold snap, so with the various expansion/contractions during the wild temp swings, it pumped itself full of air and moved the slave piston out to the end of its travel.
It was fine when I last used it, so I have to think that is how it happened.
That tells me the slave seals are shot. I'm going to get a rebuild kit and then I am planning on turning a dual seal piston for the slave side to replace the single seal piston. From the pics I've seen of it, it should not be too bad to do.

[This message has been edited by tjm4fun (edited 02-28-2009).]

Did you loose the Slave Pushrod? That would immediatly cause the pedal to not go down.

quote Originally posted by Fierobsessed: Did you loose the Slave Pushrod? That would immediatly cause the pedal to not go down.

That's it... are they plastic? Where can I get another?

In a pinch I made one out of a old Chevy 350 valve pushrod once. worked so well I forgot I did it untill I pulled the trans out ! Lasted 3 years til it was pulled for my motorswap. Only way I think you'll get one is someone here, the junkyard, or buy a entire slave.

You should never loose the slave pushrod, but it is only held in by a light spring inside the slave. The pushrod is a steel rod with rounded off ends. Unfortunatly the slave does not come with the pushrod. I'd try getting another pushrod if you can find one. You might be able to make one yourself. Put a tether on it so you can't loose it. If it comes out again, you are probably having major problems with the slave itself (broken or missing internal spring) or something funky is happening with the clutch arm.

The last slave I bought DID come with a push rod. I bought it from an Ebay seller.
But you can get quarter inch rod stock at Lowes or Home Depot that should work just fine. Just cut it to length and round off the ends.

[This message has been edited by TopNotch (edited 03-02-2009).]

Just got back from the shop. Seems it's not the rod that's broke, but the little square plastic part that the rod goes up against. They know it was plastic because they found a piece of it. See pic...



The rod is coming up from the bottom of that pic, and going through where the broken part used to be.

That square plastic part was originally in the clutch release lever. Do I have to get the whole lever, or can I find just the little plastic square part somewhere?

Is the lever an 84-only part?

[This message has been edited by Cheever3000 (edited 03-02-2009).]

can you take a picture from farther back?

quote Originally posted by Jake_Dragon: can you take a picture from farther back?

No, not today. It's at the shop 5 miles away, and I'm not going out again today. I could do that tomorrow, but I have already ordered a new clutch arm from The Fiero Store. They said it has been redesigned to eliminate the extra plastic part.

quote Originally posted by Cheever3000: The rod is coming up from the bottom of that pic, and going through where the broken part used to be. That square plastic part was originally in the clutch release lever. Do I have to get the whole lever, or can I find just the little plastic square part somewhere? Is the lever an 84-only part?

That is the 'old' style release arm. GM replaced it with the cast part that you find on most of the transaxles now. My 86 also had this style of arm on my Izusu, at least till I replaced it with the cast one.

edit: guess you figured it out already with a call to the Fiero Store.

[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 03-02-2009).]

yeah, that arm cracks out where it grabs the spline on the fork arm. had that happen on my 86. welding didn;t hold for long, only got another week out of it, then replaced it.

If it's just the plastic part you want, I'm 99% sure I have one, (probably 2 of them) but can't check on it till tomorrow. Go ahead and PM me your mailing address and I will get it in the mail to you tomorow. And--Yep, you want to look down at where that lever attaches to the spline of the clutch fork shaft and make sure it isn't broken or cracked. If it isn't now, it eventually will be. You need to replace the stamped part with a cast part as soon as possible. (I ran on a welded up one for about 3 weeks but was scared of it the whole time.)

Get the cast arm!! If you replace it with the old one it will just happen again.

[This message has been edited by kyote (edited 03-03-2009).]

This happened to me before too. Swap the arm with the cast one like the others have said.