Hi there, my XJS is a RHD 1985 3.6 Manual in the rare Steel colour. It's a beauty but been off the road for a few years and so needs a bit of love to get running again. And part of that love is the refurbishment of the clutch. I've rebuilt the slave cylinder, and replaced the flexible hose which only leaves the master cylinder. And this is where I need help!

How do you get the master cylinder out. The workshop manual says I have to remove the clutch pedal, and to do that I need to remove the pedal box. But the manual offers no advice that I can find on how to do that! I can't get anywhere near the top of the clutch pedal even with the underscuttle removed. Please don't tell me I have to take the whole dash out?!

I'm sure I'm missing something really simple here - can somebody please help me out?

Thanks in advance, Daniel

 

Dan,

I thought that the pre-facelift was the same as the facelift cars, but I might be wrong, AFAIK, you just remove the clevis pin at the top of the clutch pedal from inside the car. Then remove the 2 nuts on the cylinder inside the engine bay, disconnect the pipe and you're done.

Good luck

Paul

 

On some the pin can be removed by taking the plastic plug on side of housing and using a small pair of needlenose to pull pin lock and pushing pin out other hole.

 

My car has a Teves III manual box to which I've adapted a vac booster so I could ditch the Teves setup. Point being it's similar but not exactly the same as yours. Absent some sort of access hole like @Steve Lockwood mentions the only other thing I can think of is unbolting the MC, pushing the clutch all the way to the floor and attempting to access the cross pin through the MC hole. Seems unlikely.

Having said all that, what you'll probably have to do is remove the pedal box, which isn't that hard. You should be able to unbolt the brake MC and flex it forward enough to clear the studs on the vac booster. Mind the hard lines but there should be enough flex. If you can do this you can avoid bleeding the brakes. Then remove the four bolts that hold the pedal box in (OK might be 3 nuts and one bolt) and bring the whole thing straight up. Mind the brake light switch.

Once its on the bench the rest is easy. I just did this for the 2nd time when my "new" vac booster failed. I had the pedal box on the bench in 30 minutes.

My .02-
regards
Bob

 

I've just checked with a 3.6 XJS owner and it is as easy as I describe. You don't have to remove the pedal or the pedal box. You just look under the dash, remove teh clevis pin and then undo the 2 nuts in the engine bay side to remove the cylinder. Disconnect and plug the pipe, 10 mins, it's out.

Cheers

Paul

 

Hi Daniel,

I can confirm Paul's comments.

Changed my master cylinder a couple of years ago. Just undo the clevis pin nothing else needed. On my car (1990, 3.6) the "nuts" holding the master cylinder to the bulkhead in the engine bay were Allen key type things so make sure you have the correct tool as they are small and easily damaged. I believe that you can get rebuild kits but the internal spring in mine was in 2 or 3 pieces and had scored the bore so I bought a new master cylinder from Jaguar Classic Parts.

I also replaced the slave cylinder at the same time but had trouble getting all of the air out of the system conventionally (wife in the car and me underneath LOL!). So, I bought a Gunson kit from Screwfix that uses the air pressure in the front tyre to drive fluid through the system. This did the job in the end but watch out for fluid spills.

Good luck,
LeeP

 

Thanks all for your help so far. Really having a go at this today and I can just about access the pedal from under the dash - God know how I'm going to reattach the spring clip washer without having 4 elbows but that's a problem for another day! My current issue is finding the right Allen socket (732" I believe) to shift the two bolts holding the cylinder to the car. Access to any of this is not easy! Any advice still gratefully required and received!

Thanks, Daniel

 

Its just a pin. Look up, follow the clutch pedal toward the top. Its tight but it can be reached. Once its out(don't drop it), remove the 2 bolts and lift it up and out.

 

Daniel,

As said it is all doable just very tight squeeze under the dash.

From memory, I think I found a small plastic step (sort of think the wife uses for getting stuff out of high cupboards) that was similar height to the sill below the driver's door. Then parked my backside on it so I could lie on my back under the dash to reach the spring clip.

Good luck,
LeeP

 

No you don't need to take the dash out. You must remove the brake masher cylinder, the vacuum assist diaphram, then there are 4 bolts that hold the pedal box in place. The pedal box will lift out with the pedals still attached. You will need to disconnect the wires from the brake pedal that control the rear brakes. You will also need to disconnect all of the piping to everything which will necessitate bleeding everything once back togehter.

 

Thanks, I forgot about the clevis pin, that makes it a lot easier. Disregard my other reply! Thanks.

 

Hi Daniel
Working on a 1984 3.6 manual and all is as you describe. Only problem I have is accessing the clevis pin. Do you have to remove all the trim under the dash?

Tried to get in to without and frankly you need a double jointed midwife!

Regards

Roger

 

Roger,

No need to remove the trim. I find that the easiest way to get to tand he top of the pedals is:

- kneel by the side of the car, just follow your hand up the pedal until you get to the clevis pin,

or

- move the driver seat back. Recline it. Put a blanket on the seat. Lie down backward on the seat, head in the footwell and reach to the top of the pedal that way.

Good luck

Paul

 

Hi Paul

Pleased to inform you that your second method worked and I managed to do it without needing a physiotherapist!

The MS needs new seals but my son has now sent the car to an expert for a full assessment. First impressions are that is a remarkably good car, almost totally original and no rust/rot so we are hoping it's really good find.

Regards

Roger

 

Well done Roger!

Unfortunately, I've had to use that backward reclining technique far too often! When I had my x308, I often spent more time with my head below the steering wheel, than looking above it!

Hope the assessment goes well!

Cheers

Paul