Well, after two days of searching and searching I have only answered about half of my question :)

Two days ago I drove my car to work fine, that night, I had no clutch pressure and it was difficult to get into gear. I know a ton about the 420A and trans, as I autocrossed Neons for three years, eventually owning a total of four, but Neons do not have hydraulic clutches and I have never dealt with one :)

Put the car into 4th while sitting still, car did not slip or even try to move, it just stalled with the pedal let up a small amount. From what I have heard, this means the clutch is ok. So ill assume that.

Clutch - check.

I searched and found info about the clutch cylinders giving, so I checked the reservoir, and its empty. Put some fluid in, drove it fine for about half hour, then symptoms came back, so I checked for wetness under the dash near pedal. completely dry, checked up top at the clutch master cylinder, it looks brand new with no wetness, which is possible, I have only owned the car for about a month or two.

Now, here is the part I need some help on.

I thought the car needed a rear main seal, because there are always drops of brownish fluid under that area. But, after examining the slave cylinder, there is a ton of damp oily road grime under the slave cylinder.

Is it safe to assume this needs to be rebuilt?

Im gonna bleed it when I get off work, there has to be air trapped in there now.

Thanks!

Tim Klein

Also, any tips for this? I have seen plenty for the master, but not so much for the slave.

I also bought the Haynes manual, looks like I am gonna need it with this car :)

Originally posted by teklein
Im gonna bleed it when I get off work, there has to be air trapped in there now.

That's the 1st thing i'd do. Bleed it and then make sure you're at the full mark.

Originally posted by teklein
I thought the car needed a rear main seal, because there are always drops of brownish fluid under that area. But, after examining the slave cylinder, there is a ton of damp oily road grime under the slave cylinder.

I had the same issue with fluid leaking around the rear main area. When I separated the block and trans during my rebuild, I noticed that the fluid seemed to be coming from the input shaft seal(I think that's the part). It was leaking into the clutch housing and out of the slave cylinder seal. That would be where I would recommend checking.