1993 Probe GT Clutch Master And Slave Cylinders I just had to replace both my clutch master and slave (release) cylinders. The slave (release) cylinder was no problem since it was in the open at the front of the engine. I know that there is a few "Ford" better thinking that I would argue with. One of them is the headlight switch having to be pushed forward instead of back. The clutch master cylinder is another. It bolts to the firewall. Why would they put one bolt through the firewall coming from the engine compartment and the other coming through the firewall coming from under the dash. It took me and my nephew 2 days just to get the one from under the dash. I had to remove my alarm system and Iwe thought that we may have to remove a lot more wire connections just to get at the retaining nut which is located behind the clutch spring area. It is one of those blind removals that have to be done. That is bad enough but to have to turn around and have to replace the nut in a blind area that has absolutely no room to move unless you are an imp, is no fun. I decided to do that bolt and nut arrangement another way. It came to me in my sleep believe it or not. Anyway, what I did is reverse the bolt coming through the firewall from under the dash. I put the nut on the short end of the bolt under the dash. This way all I had to do was get it to catch a thread and then it was just a matter of tightening the bolt blind. The way it was designed, I not only had to get the bolt through the firewall blindly and with no room, I also had to turn it into the master cylinder and then put the nut on the long side of the bolt which would take a long time since I could only move the ratchet a couple of clicks at a time. By putting the nut on the short end and putting the long end through the firewall, I had the nut to put the ratchet on and only had less than half the threading to do that would have ensued had I done it the way the manufacturers had it. My next problem was to get the bolt and nut into the blind spot and through that little hole in the firewall. I took a small speaker type of wire and pushed it through the firewall from the engine compartment making sure it had enough to reach the floor with some length to spare. I then stripped about an inch of coating off the wire. I then divided the strands into two piles. I twirled them so that they were not going to catch on anything. I put the bolt inbetween the two strands. I used electrical tape to hold them firmly. Once that was done, I went into the engine compartment and stared to slowly pull the bolt up under the dash. To my surprise it actually worked and brought the bolt through the small blind hole for the bolt on the first try. I then had my nephew turn the nut and bolt while I made sure the bolt caught a few threads and did not slip out of the hole. I just thought I would mention this in case anyone else has to replace the clutch master cylinder. This might help save a lot of time and aggrevation. If I ever have to replace the clutch master cylinder again, I plan on doing it differently. When it comes down to the bolt under the dash, I will just have it tack welded to the firewall, pointing out like the other one is. Then I will have no problem again with this part. |