Replacing clutch master and slave help

Hi I have a 2010 4 cylinder reg cab 4WD

My clutch master push rod seems to be loosing length. My pedal was getting stuck down and not clicking back up. I checked it and noticed a large gap between the push rod and the pedal so I adjusted the push rod and it started working again. Now a week later its back doing it again and I am out of adjustment length on the push rod.

After driving for a while using the clutch and brakes it seems to gain some height again and works better but my fear is I have a bad master or slave even though I am not losing any fluid..

I have purchased a replacement master and slave along with the slave flex line hose and hardlines since they look rusty and might as well change them too.

Is there any write ups and or videos on the proper procedure for replacing both of these and bleeding the system? And has anyone here actually done this and can give me some advice?

Thanks.

Parts I will be replacing in pics.

 

Up

 

Cant believe nobody has done this. I guess I will have to wing it.

I found some instructions that say to remove the whole clutch pedal assembly to replace the master.

https://www.customtacos.com/tech.ol.../06toyrm/06toypdf/06rmsrc/rm2006ta/029001.pdf


I have not found any proper bleeding procedures. I see no way easy way to bench bleed the master before install because it does not have a fluid tank and it would also drip all over the floor. It gets its fluid from the brake master cylinder.

I suppose I will either try a homemade pressure bleeder I have that connects the the brake master cylinder or a hand held suction bleeder placed on the slave bleeder.

 

I’m literally in the same boat as you, I’m about to do it tom.

 

Just replaced both master and slave on my 4.0 manual a month ago, I too found no useful threads or videos. I’ve replaced enough clutch hydraulics on other vehicles to know what to do, but there are some idiosyncrasies with the Tacoma.

The biggest piece of advice I can offer is the pushrod actually rests in a ‘crevasse’ on the backside of the pedal. To install or remove the pushrod, it helps to have the clutch pedal partially depressed, so it’s completey vertical. Otherwise, you will struggle to get the pushrod in place correctly as it doesn’t simply sit up against the pedal.

As for bleeding, I used my Motion pressure bleeder with Toyota specific cap for the brake master cylinder. I didn’t need to bench bleed the master because of this. I would recommend using something similar to be able to completey evacuate air from the system.

Max

 

Hey thanks for responding! Its great to know that a pressure bleeder does work for this application. I have a home made one that I used on my 1st gen's brakes. You simply put it on the master cylinder reservoir and run your air compressor up to about 15 psi and snap the hose on it and crack the bleeder. You have to be cautious with the PSI and to not to let the all the fluid go out of the master cylinder when using it. It worked pretty good for brakes but I was not sure it would work for this application.





I tested it this morning and it actually fixed my problem! The air pressure pushed the clutch master cylinder push rod back up to its normal position and it stayed and worked great on my drive to work today. I am still going to do the change. I am sure this is only a temp fix and there is a leak or its getting air in it someplace.


My questions to you are:

Did you have to remove the whole pedal assembly to do this job?

Was the pressure bleeder enough to get all the air or did you have to do the pump and bleed process later too?

The master cylinder that Toyota Parts gave me (pictured above in my first post) has a metal cap on the top of the plastic pushrod end. I see that my existing pushrod does not have this cap. Further investigation shows a parts diagram with Type A, B, C part options. I should be able to swap out my push rod end on it if what they gave me does not work. My existing one looks like "Type C". The part they gave me looks like Type B or A

Do you know anything about these pushrod ends and why they have different ones?

 

Sometime around 2012, they revised the whole pedal and master cylinder assembly to eliminate squeeks. It could be that the replacement master you bought is for the updated version. If that's the case, you need to find out if it will fit your truck.

 

Ok I am finding some info about the clutch pedal squeak TSB. On it they replace the pedal and bushings and clevis on the push rod.

I may have to re-use my old push rod clevis since I am not replacing my whole pedal Thats an expensive part! I remember having the squeak a long time ago and some simple grease fixed it.

 

Update.

The job though not easy went well. I am glad I purchased all the lower lines. They were rusted and hard to get to. I ended up having to break one to remove them even after hitting them with pb baster all week.

My home made pressure bleeder did the job good. I used 15 psi. Instructions for making it from parts at the hardware store are somewhere on the yotatech forum.

Yes you have to remove the whole clutch pedal as far as I can tell. The instructions I found called for removing the fuse box. I only removed front plugs and wires and unbolted it. Not the back plugs. This gave me visibility to see what I was doing. I basically used small 1/4 ratchet to get to the clutch pedal bolts. It was tight

I disconnected the soft hose from the brake master cylinder where it goes through the firewall and plugged it with a big bolt.

I ended up re-using my old clutch master push-rod clevis end.

The top clip on the soft line on the slave gave me problems. It was rusted up and I could not get to it with a hammer. I used a sharp ended spud bar from the engine compartment as a lever and was able to catch the spring edge and pop it out.

 

Some instructions were here.

https://www.customtacos.com/tech.old/files/05FSM/repair.html
Clutch master cylinder removal

Some photos I took.

 

The links in posts #3 and #13 for the Clutch Master Cylinder removal don't seem to work, but I'm having the same issue on my 2010 4-cylinder reg cab 2WD. Your pics and diagrams are helping a ton so thank you. Where did you find the Clutch Master Cylinder removal procedure?
Does it match with this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnrLy5smd1o ???

 

I can say it is possible to do this without removing the whole clutch pedal assembly. Need some long needle nose pliers for the vacuum hose clamp and a serious chip on your shoulder. Recommend doing after a week of yoga classes (which I did not do). I took out the master cylinder from the assembly without removing anything else in the cab.

bleeding is a pain in the ass if you’re not careful of the fact the fluid reservoir lies (mine has fluid caught in the walls of the reservoir misrepresenting actual fluid level). Spent more time bleeding brakes and clutch like a dumbass because of this).

 

I was having issues with my clutch where it would stick to the floor and started doing some troubleshooting but I think I may have borked things. Now the pushrod in the master cylinder has no back pressure and it seems like there’s a lot of slop inside the cylinder body. Is this indicative of a bad master cylinder or is it just air in the lines? I tried bleeding the lines but I think I might have introduced more air than pushing fluid through. Can you draw the air out with a manual vacuum pump through the bleed valve?

 

Some years have a separate clutch fluid reservoir. Either way, before starting the bleeding process over again, top the reservoir off with Dot3/4 (whatever you’re using now - I stuck with D3) make DAMN sure you can physically see the fluid level through the fill area (NOT through the ‘see through’ side). My experience is that the reservoir is a weird dual wall design that claims a higher fluid level than actual full amount, so I topped the damn thing off and carefully monitored to ensure I don’t release air into it (again).

THEN proceed with bleeding and eventually you’ll get the air out. If you have a shared clutch/brake reservoir like I do and you already screwed up by letting air in, you should re-bleed brakes from the farthest wheel to the shortest as well. I wound up bleeding clutch, brakes and clutch again to ensure there wasn’t air in the lines.
Before you’re doing this, might want to replace master/spave cylinders for peace of mind. A lot of slop is like saying there were a lot of cars on the road today. Suffer through it if you can afford it. I picked mine up from Napa, and Aside from the nub locking it to the back of the wheel (which was slightly oversized) the cylinder appeared to be made from the same manufacturer as OEM.

 

The question is how did the air get in there. If the pedal goes flat, even for a second, something is leaking. Probably the master cyl. The slave cylinder is fine if it's not leaking, no other way for it to fail.

Other possibility is the clutch cover is getting weak and not releasing, but that's rare and usually comes with other noticeable symptoms.

You can have a helper push the clutch pedal while watching the pushrod throw at the slave cylinder. Should be moving the clutch fork a good distance. That will tell you if the problem is in the cab or in the bellhousing

FWIW I had a 2011 OFFROAD 6sp and got a updated clutch pedal/master assembly for free at the dealer under some kind of tsb. Felt better and less squeaking

 

I tried to bleed it by having someone press the clutch in, opening the bleed valve, releasing the clutch, and closing the valve multiple times but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything. I probably spent 10 minutes and maybe 15-20 strokes of the clutch. Do I just need to spend more time? I went to the auto store and picked up a new master cylinder and it feels much different. The pushrod feels like there’s a spring in there that returns the pushrod after being depressed. Mine does not do that at all.

 

I think you're doing it wrong. You should crack the bleed when the pedal is down (and the line is pressurized) then shut it off before bringing the pedal back up. If you're doing it as you describe - not shutting off the bleed until the pedal is back up - you're just introducing lots of air to the line.