clutch pedal got loose all of a sudden

[xero_morality]

Hey guys, got a 96 s14 and I was driving around last night and noticed all of a sudden there was alot of play in the clutch pedal. The car still shift nicely with no grinding and clutch feels like it is fully engaging/disengaging but now has a couple inches of play. The car only has 92,000 miles and is completely stock. You guys think it is something in the clutch assembly? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[ThuG LyFe]

my guess is something went wrong in the master/slave clutch cylinder that maybe it's not holding the pressure enough for the pedal to pop back out causing it to be loose? i read this somewhere dont quote me 100% tho.

[PyroTecK]

check the fluid... i had a leak in the master and didnt pay attention to it... woke up one day to have no fluid in there and ended up w/ air in the line making it feel retarded... still shifted alright but it felt like stepping on chewed bubble gum... i changed the master, slave, removed the dampner and bled the lines... feels great now

[White Comet]

slave cylinder failure is pretty common, thats my guess

[98s14inaz]

I had my bracket that connects the master cylinder to the clutch pedal break before and it caused a similar condition. Check that too.

[thenillaz]

There is air in your system. Bleed your clutch. If problem still persists check the slave by squeezing the rubber boot. If fluid comes out you need a new slave. Master cylinder should be fine, but I'm not sure how to check to see if it is failing. Check for leaks perhaps?

EDIT: Oh BTW, blled the system from both the slave cylinder and the bleeder block. Bleeder block is a f@ggot, he likes to hold air in the system.

[xero_morality]

I had my bracket that connects the master cylinder to the clutch pedal break before and it caused a similar condition. Check that too.

Bingo! so I brought it to good year to do an alignment yeterday and those bozos looked at it and said everything looks good must be a bubble somewhere in the system. So when I get it home I looked at the pedal and I noticed one half of that bracket has snapped and while I was testing it the other half snapped so now the clutch pedal is just hanging like a limp noodle. My mechanic must not of looked very hard not to see something like that.

So can I replace just that part or do I have to buy a whole new master cylinder? I have the fsm and I dont see that part listed seperately from the master cylinder. I cant do the junk yard thing since im in denver and we just dont have s14's laying around like you east/west coast guys.

Also this part looks like it is for doing adjustment to the clutch pedal? Should I mark how far it is bolted on so I get the adjustment right when I put the new one on? Any help would be appreciated since I am a total noob to car repair. Thanks for the info guys!

[White Comet]

dang, ive never heard of those breaking, thats something i'll watch for now

[scottydog]

You need a replacement rod/bracket. I don't think the master cylinders come with the adjustment rod.

Have you called the Nissan dealer?

[xero_morality]

ok, called the Nissan dealer this morning and it is just a 15 dollar part. I actually had it towed in to my local shop for 2 reasons. One I was having a real hard time trying to get under the dash to remove the bolt from the push rod and second I am afraid that if I adjust the clutch pedal to tight it will burn my clutch out.

They might have to remove the master cylinder to get this part on but maybe they can just tweak the push rod enough to thread it on.

Oh by the way for anyone who is interested. I was slamming my clutch pedal a little aggressively when this happened although I wouldnt really think it was hard enough to break something. Probably can most likely chalk it up to it being 10 years old.

[White Comet]

good luck w/ that, apparently slamming the clutch will break stuff BECAUSE its a 10 yo car