Rose has been running like a champ after her recent recovery, but two weeks ago she developed difficulty shifting into first gear. She had new clutch and clutch master cylinder three years ago, although much of the time she was sitting unmoved. The gear shifting turning hard was progressive, especially at stops like red lights and toll booth. After a few days, she finally gave up at a roundabout near home, as I couldn't shift to any gear. Called my mechanic and he advised me to shift into any gear and stay in that gear and limp to his workshop. Forced into 3rd gear and drove 10 km to the workshop. The mechanic found clutch fluid missing. Topped it up and cleared the hydraulic system of air inside and clutch returned to normal, working even better than her Day 1 of her recovery. The mechanic tried to identify the source of the fluid loss but was uncertain. It was dark and late so I was advised to try running as normal for a few days to monitor speed of fluid leak. He also gave me a bottle of brake/clutch fluid as a back up.

Five days past and the fluid level dropped from Max to Min. Took the car back to the mechanic and found the pedal linkages wet inside the foot well - clearly tracing leak from the clutch master cylinder, as there was no sign of fluid leak near the slave cylinder or anywhere under the car.

I never suspected the clutch master cylinder as it was brand new fitted just three years ago and hardly used because Rose had been immobilized due to no start issues. It was then a brand new, boxed FTE clutch master cylinder (KG190037.0.3, matching CCC6760) bought from eBay, as factory originals were/are no longer available.

I bought another FTE clutch master cylinder a year ago for another car, but in the light of Rose's experience, I would try replacing the one on Rose with one intended for X40 (CBC7284) instead. There was recent discussion here that it would also fit X300 with a slight change in inlet pipe angle.

 

I begin by saying that I'm a bit out of my depth, as my experience with clutch hydraulics is limited.

One would certainly expect a master cylinder to last many, many years....not just 2 or 3. My first inclination is to simply chalk it up to "bad luck, you got a dud".

But.....and it sounds like you're alluding to this as well.....

Who is "FTE"? What is their reputation? There is no shortage of manufacturers who produce replacement parts that simply don't live up to expectations, particularly in terms of longevity. "URO" is one example often bandied about, having many mixed reviews...and that's being a bit generous.

Hopefully others with chime on with something more useful.

Cheers
DD

 

Well, I am indeed disappointed with the FTE clutch master cylinder. It wasn't cheap in the first place. I just hope that it was an unlucky one made in the early hours of Monday (LOL).

I have better experience in clutch master cylinders of other makes for my Alfa 164 (Bendix) and Mercedes (Sachs). However, Bendix no longer makes clutch masters specifically for Alfa 164, so I had very bitter experience using universal clutch masters, and interim solution was to mix and match the internals parts of LHD and RHD clucth master (yes, Alfa was so fussy in using different clutch masters for LHD and RHD 164s). In the end I had to bite the bullet by modifying the clutch hose and pipes so I can use a LHD clutch master on my RHD Alfa 164 now and in the future.

Although X300s have no such saga in LHD and RHD clutch masters, afterall manual X300s are too small in numbers to justify special make for them.

Come to think of it; the rubber seals, rings, spring, etc. inside a clutch master are inexpensive when compared with the cylinder made in metal. Manufacturers would be killing their own business by making the clutch master too durable, and to make repair kits available would further ruin long term business. So rubber seals and rings are made of lesser quality to keep cost down as well as ensuring that there is a good turnover of other clutch masters in stock.....

Manual X300 owners simply have very little or no choice in finding exact fit of new clutch masters. So X300's clutch master cylinders and coils share similar paths - use whatever is available until one finds a good, proven quality substitute. In my case, I shall try a X40 clutch master on my XJR (folks have confirmed that they do fit) and see how long it will last.

 

FTE is an OEM part subcontractor who apparently made some of the Jaguar-branded clutch masters for the factory (CCC6760). I can confirm that the XJ40 part does work (CBC7284, available from Jaguar Partno_CBC7284#_CLUTCH MASTER CYL. XJ40 1990 ON_David Manners Group) with a slight bend in the hydraulic hose. It's odd that Rose's cylinder went so quickly; was the fluid contaminated at the time? Mine had to be replaced due to seals breaking down into the fluid, leaving it looking muddy.

 

Rose was a converted manual so the clutch master and rubber hose were new, but I suspect that there was residual fluid and contaminants inside the system which the first workshop that swapped in the auto with the manual gearbox did not flush the system at the time. When my mechanic topped up the clutch fluid recently as a temporary fix he had to flush the system to force old fluid and air out. The fluid that came out was greyish but I can't imagine three year's idle time would kill the rubber seal. How many people religiously renew their brake and clutch fluid every two years?

 

Hmm, I was in a similar situation with it being a swapped car. This is worrying.

 

Meet Grant
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/m...francis-40547/

 

I was saying how often people change their brake/clutch fluid every two years, or ever, but even so their brake/clutch masters usually have a life much longer than three years.

I was under the wrong impression that with clutch fluid lowering slowly from the "Max" to the "Min" mark in a week, I shouldn't worry much. After the mechanic topped it up a week ago, I checked on the level again two days later and it lowered a little bit. Somehow, I topped it up two days ago and checked again today, and, alas, it had fallen well below the minimum mark, almost to the bottom of the plastic cylinder. Looks like the rubber seals inside the clutch master are degenerating quickly now that the car has become my daily driver. Can only hope that the replacement clutch master will arrive soon.

 

ON these sorts of things it seems that lack of use can kill them, and if used frequently they will last a very long time. Maybe standing for 3 years is what did it in?

 

Unless there are different views based on experience out there, it appears to be the only reason for writing off a sitting clutch master cylinder, or perhaps it had a prior life of sitting on the shelf for another three or more years before being sold....

 

Update: Rose has been staying home for two weeks now, as a new clutch cylinder is yet to arrive. I drove her a bit more before grounding her home. The first time refilling the clutch fluid and forcing air out allowed her to run for 10 days, subsequent refills had to be done increasingly at shorter internals, eventually daily. One morning after a refill, it died in the afternoon, leaving me stranded on the street. It had to be towed home to wait for a new cylinder. Was expecting the new cylinder to arrive any day from the UK, but more than two weeks have passed, and David Manners only belatedly said that the X40 clutch master cylinder (CBC7284) is still in back order, unlikely available until mid-May. Urgh!!!

 

I've not had good luck with DM in that regard. They will charge your card and then tell you things are NLA or backordered. In my case of course I lost on the credit card forex both ways...

 

Can you get the seals and rebuild the existing cylinder? I don't know if they are available.

 

The XJS version used to have rebuild kit, but nowhere to be found these days. There are rebuild kits for older XJ6 Series 1 & 2 but they may not fit. I am asking the UK eBayer if he has or can find similar kits for X300. However, new clutch master cylinders for X40 and XJS are very much X300's last hope.

 

I suspect that the master cylinder had spent many years on the shelf before you bought it, and before it was fitted. The seals can dry out, and if the cylinder was "pumped' before fluid was put into the system, it wouldnt take much for the tips of the seals to be damaged on the dry walls of the cylinder. Another possibility could be that the seals "flipped" at the bottom of the stroke if the system was manually bled. Less likely with a clutch master cylinder, but another reason to pressure bleed.
I am sure a seal rebuild kit would be worth a try, although from whatbyou are saying that might be even harder to source than a new master.

 

Maybe not.

Here in the 'States, at least, there are outfits doing hydraulic cylinder rebuilding. Here's one example

Brake Sleeving & Rebuilding Services ? White Post Restorations

I suspect companies like this have industry access to hundreds (thousands?) of seals and pistons, and all other manner of related parts, for for hydraulic cylinders.

In my neck o' the woods there's a company that rebuilds hydraulics, water pumps, and darn near anything else for farming, industrial, and heavy truck customers. But they'll gladly repair/overhaul regular automotive stuff as well.

I have to think such services are available elsewhere in the world. Might be worth asking around.

Just a thought.

Cheers
DD

 

My mechanic told me that he too suspected that the clutch late was probably poorly installed by the workshop that did the auto-to-manual conversion a few years ago - the exceptionally heavy clutch pedal might indicate that the pressure plate was pushed beyond the focal point - the excessive piston travel within the clutch barrel might flip the seal and cause premature wear. Very few mechanics here have seen a Jaguar with a manual gearbox.

 

I agree. When there is a will there is a way. In the case of my Alfa 164, I managed to find a near-replacement clutch from the Alfaholics, although 164 is not yet considered a family member of vintage Alfas.

Clutch master cylinder is no rocket-science. The moving parts and rubber seal are mostly generic and common items among many similar products. However, folks will try to exhaust all substitutes and near-substitutes before considering custom-making a replacement. I shall keep my toasted master cylinder for future rebuild.

 

Update; My mechanic replaced the clutch master cylinder today. The X40 clutch master cylinder does fit, only needing slight angle change in the top metal pipe.



We noticed that the X40 master was made by AP which also makes clutch master cylinder for the XJS, and has a larger fluid reservoir than the one removed from my X300, which failed surprisingly soon, with oil leak inside the foot well.



Unfortunately, the mechanic has found that the clutch slave cylinder down under the car leaking terribly when he was clearing air from the clutch system. It might be taking most of the load when the clutch master was failing earlier.

The mechanic also found out why the clutch was so heavy. With the clutch master cylinder removed the pedal was still too strong to push. He said the workshop that installed the foot pedals and the clutch kit onto Rose a few years ago had over-twisted the spring by one or a half turn. This cannot be corrected unless and until the whole assembly (brake booster, the clutch master and the pedal box) is removed and re-installed. I think I can live with a heavier clutch.....LOL

 

Here are the pictures of the FTE Clutch Master for X300 and the AP Clutch Master for X40. The former was listed at GBP202 on the web a year ago, the latter is obtainable from British Parts and David Manners. I bought it from DM, at GBP85.








Hope that the new clutch master will work better and last longer.