Hey all, I've been lurking, trolling, etc., and I'm wondering if you tech gentlemen might have some info for me. I've got a 94 EX, 4cyl 5 spd; the clutch master cylinder was leaking inside at the boot/ pushrod (which, from what I've read, is typical). I replaced it about 2 months ago, bled the hydraulic system, and everything was fine; over a couple weeks, I noticed the pedal travel increasing, and today it was terrible (car not wanting to go into gear, etc). The reservoir wasn't low as far as I could tell, but I checked over the lines, fittings, slave cylinder, etc, and didn't see any leaks. I bled the system and it took care of the problem, as I suspected it would, but i'm wondering if anyone knows where I should start the search for the faulty part. From what I've gathered, I probably should have just replaced the slave cylinder while I was at it (i.e. the new master may have too much pressure for the old slave), but are there any other typical places I should check before I change it out? Additionally, what do you think the possibility of faulty seals in the new master is? What's the deal with the dampers on these things? Any info would be appreciated, thanks.

 

well, see how long it lasts on this bleed.

was it a honda master cylinder? who knows how long aftermarket crap will last.

 

Ha, well, not long. The pedal wasn't as firm the next morning, and it's back to awful this morning. I swear that the reservoir still has the same amount of fluid in it though and I'm not seeing a leak; I suppose with what little fluid is in the system is doesn't take much to cause a problem. Anyhow, I'm just going to replace the slave, since it's so cheap, and see if it helps. If not, I think I may replace the line with braided stainless/teflon liner. I read somewhere that the rubber section of the hose sometimes expands, causing a soft pedal. Oh, and to answer your question, no, it's not a Honda part. Maybe I'll learn my lesson huh? Is there an online store to get decent prices on genuine parts? The nearest dealer is about 30 miles from me.

 

Oh, I had another thought; what type of hose could I use to replace the reservoir to master cylinder hose with?

 

tasauto.com has a lot of OEM and aftermarket parts for accords.

I would pull back the boot on the slave cylinder and see if there is fluid held inside.

 

That's the plan for this afternoon.

 

Well, the new slave cylinder is in and the system is bled; we'll see if that fixes the problem. There wasn't any fluid in the boot, but the whole thing was pretty cruddy and greasy. Hopefully that takes care of it.

 

Replacing the reservoir - MC hose won't help. That hose is not under pressure.

You could have a leak where the MC-slave connection was made allowing air to enter, or more likely the MC piston is allowing air to leak in, but not fluid out.

Hopefully, the slave will fix your problem. I recently replaced the MC on my daughter's 97 acura 2.2CL (very similar to Accord), and slave also failed about 1 month later. I did use OEM MC, as this is a job best not repeated. Not terrible, but not a lot of fun under the dash.

good luck

 

Yeah, well, it's not as bad as it could be, I spent the better part of a day replacing the hub assembly on a pontiac once due to rusty bolts; I had seriously sore forearms the next day. I had a friend when I was doing my undergrad whose parents had been driving Acuras for years, he really introduced me to the quality of the Honda motor company.

Regarding the MC-reservoir hose, I was interested if it might be letting air in on the stroke of the cylinder. The aftermarket slave I bought was junk; the bleeder screw was a different size than the OEM, and it was aluminum....boo. I'll definately go with OEM from now on if I have the luxury of time to wait for an order. If the new slave doesn't fix the problem, I'm just going to swap it all out, master, slave and all pipe/hose. The hardest part is bleeding the thing, timewise at least.