I'd have to concur with Zoltan.  I recently replaced my slave cyl (I posted
details on the Syncro list, the end result of which I have attached to this
e-mail) and bleeding it took a bit more than a pint, I would say.  (My
master had become empty as a result of the same sort of leakage).

Included in this e-mail (in order of appearance):
1. My suggested modifications to Dr. Rainer Woitok method
2. Dr. Rainer's method, as posted to the Syncro List
3. A great tip from Tim King (originally from Daryl at AAA Transaxle)

Not sure if these tips are unique to Syncros, but should be helpful
nonetheless.

Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA

----------------------------------------------------
From:  "Brent Christensen" <sbsyncro@h...>
Date:  Sun Sep 30, 2001  8:31 pm
Subject:  Re: [Syncro] Time to change out the slave cylinder...

Well, I did the nasty deed and replaced the slave cylinder yesterday
morning.  Not all that bad, really.  Dr. Rainer's tip sheet (which I have
left attached to this e-mail) was very helpful as a road map, but I would
offer the following additional advice to anyone planning this job:

First, having a pressure bleeder made bleeding the system a 5-minute one
person job.  If you don't have one already, run out and get one.  I have a
unit called an "Eezi-bleed" that I bought years ago for an Austin Healey -
about $30 and it is pressurized by a tire (I use a wheelbarrow tire with
about 25 psi in it).  A quick search turned them up at
http://www.aep.bigstep.com/Eezi.htm

Secondly, a 13 mm  "Crows foot" at the end of a long 3/8" extension worked
WONDERS for removing the pesky rear bolt (the one towards the reat of the
van).  Forget trying to do it with box wrenches, unless you have a "super
stubby" like Snap-On makes, or you are willing to make your own by cutting
it in half and grinding the stub smooth.  Another ideal tool would be a 13
mm "distributor wrench" but I was not able to find one, and don't even know
if they are made in 13 mm.

Removing the Slave cylinder entirely from the topside is possible, and I
would submit, easier.  In fact, if you are lucky, you could do it without
ever crawling under the van at all.  The trick is to undo the banjo fitting
at the slave cylinder, which is a bit tricky if you have thick fingers.  You
have to force the short coolant hose back far enough so that you can back
the bolt out from the banjo nut.  Be prepared, as all the fluid will then
leak out from the system, which for me was nothing, since the slave had
failed and dumped all its fluid already.  (Also, having a pressure bleeder,
I was not worried about introducing air into the system).

The most difficult thing about reinstalling the new unit (which I did as an
entire assembly - shaft, boot and cylinder) is getting the nuts started.
When you drop the slave in place, the rod rests against the clutch's
throw-out arm (or whatever you want to call it).  This means that the unit
wants to sit about 5 mm above its mating surface unless you apply some
force, which then compresses the spring inside the cylinder (which is still
empty of fluid).  Once the rear nut is started by hand (I used a 13 mm
combination wrench slipped in underneath the bolt head to hold it in place,
which is tricky) you can crank it down about 1/2 way by pushing the slave
down against its mating surface and rotating the nut with your forefinger
and middle finger.

Once the slave is secured like this, you can start the forward bolt from
underneath (you have to do the rear bolt first, since the only way to put it
into position from underneath is to use the hole that the slave cylinder
fits into).  Start the nut by hand, then reach in with a long extension and
"wobble socket" or 13mm socket on a 3/8" knuckle.  With a wobble socket,
there is sufficient clearance - with a knuckle + socket it could be pretty
tight.   I was able to completely tighten the forward bolt this way after
reaching underneath and placing a box wrench around the head of the bolt and
  resting against something.    A couple more turns on the rear bolt head
with the crow's foot and the cylinder was in nice and snug.

Next comes the banjo fitting, which was surprisingly easy to get back on.  I
pulled back the aforementioned hose and gently started the bolt with a
couple of fingers twiddling at it until the threads caught, then tightened
it down with a 17mm open end wrench.  Tightened it up and then fit a small
plastic tube to the bleeder screw, running it down to an empty brake fluid
can propped in the engine bay.

Next, I fitted the pressure bleeder, attached the wheel barrow tire, and
then went back and opened the bleeder screw.  I stood and watched the
bubbled dribble out of the system while I opened my first beer (when was the
last time you did *that* while bleeding a hydraulic system?).   After a
couple minutes and no more bubbles, I checked the pedal.  No pedal, so I
pumped it slowly about 10 times and turned the bleeder on again by
reapplying the air pressure from the tire.  About 30 seconds later another
batch of bubbles came out, so I shut everything down, cleaned up, and tool
it out for a test drive, everything working beautifully.

Total time for job:  About 2 hours start to finish,  not including setup and
cleanup.

Brent Christensen
Santa Barbara, CA

---------------------------

The clutch slave  cylinder is  often  easily and  cheaply repairable, as
it's normally just  a single plastic seal that  needs replacement.  Here
in Germany clutch slave cylinder repair kits  are available for some DEM
10.-, though not at your friendly  local Volkswagen dealer (he'll charge
you above DEM 200.- for a completely new clutch slave cylinder).

Find  below detailed  instructions on   how  toreplace the clutch  slave
cylinder (or only its main seal).

Sincerely
Rainer

'89 Caravelle GL Syncro 16"

----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rainer M Woitok                  | Phone: (+49-9131) 85-27811,-27031 |
| Regionales Rechenzentrum         |                                   |
| Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet | Fax  : (+49-9131) 30 29 41        |
| Martens-Strasse 1                | Telex: d 629 755 tf erl           |
| D-91058 Erlangen                 |                                   |
| Germany                          | Mail: Woitok@RRZE.Uni-Erlangen.DE |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Removing the Clutch Slave Cylinder
----------------------------------

1. Even though the clutch slave cylinder is held by only two bolts, it's
   a bear  to remove.  First thing  you  should do is  to apply generous
   doses  of WD40 or similar to  the two bolts.   And  since, if mounted
   correctly, the bolts   are sitting there  with  their heads  down and
   their shafts  up, the best way to  apply the WD40  is from the engine
   compartment.  And while  you are there,  also remove the tiny  rubber
   cap on top  of  the bleeding valve  of  the slave cylinder  before it
   might get lost in the process of the removal.

2. The flexible hose leading to the clutch slave cylinder is attached to
   the  frame of the  van by two clamps.  Remove  both these clamps from
   the van.

3. The front bolt holding the clutch slave cylinder is best removed from
   below the van with a 13mm socket on top  of a long extension while at
   the same time holding the nut  with a 13mm  wrench.  The shorter that
   wrench, the  better.   The real problem, however,  is  the rear bolt.
   Push up the rubber boot protecting the  push rod for the clutch lever
   as much as possible.  This way you are  then able to access both ends
   of the rear  bolt from the  engine bay.   Sneak in  a  13mm wrench in
   order to  hold the head of the   rear bolt and  remove the  nut using
   another 13mm wrench.  Again, the shorter this  wrench the better, and
   a flat box wrench is probably suited best,  because it will fit every
   30 degrees.

4. When the two  bolts are removed dive under  the  van again, pull  the
   push  rod out of  the  rubber boot  at  the lower  end  of  the slave
   cylinder   and also   gently pull  the   rubber boot  from the  slave
   cylinder.  If necessary use a small screw driver to convince the boot
   of letting go.  Finally  carefully find a  path between  tranny, fuel
   tank, slave cylinder mounting bracket, half axle, coolant and exhaust
   piping, and maybe some other things to bring the slave cylinder down,
   so it will hang on its hose right below the tranny.

5. In order to minimize the loss of brake fluid you should now remove as
   much brake fluid from the reservoir in  the instrument cluster on the
   dash  as is necessary to  lower the brake  fluid level below the hose
   entering the reservoir from the right.   This way opening the hose at
   the slave cylinder will not drain the reservoir any more.

6. To disconnect the hydraulic  fitting at the end  of the hose from the
   slave cylinder you need something to  catch the hydraulic fluid still
   in the  hose, as well  as a 17mm  box wrench, a piece  of wood, and a
   hammer.  Put  the box wrench on  the head of  the hyraulic fitting in
   such a  way   that wrench  and  slave cylinder   form   a rather flat
   triangle, cylinder to the left, wrench to the right,  and the head of
   the hydraulic bolt pointing towards you.   Place this triangle on the
   piece of wood  and then carefully  hammer  on the eye  of the wrench,
   flattening the triangle even more and thus  loosening the bolt of the
   hydraulic fitting.  Be prepared to  catch  the brake fluid which  now
   starts oozing out.  Remove the hydraulic  fitting altogether and make
   sure not to lose the two copper washers sitting on the hydraulic bolt
   on  either side of the  hydraulic eye.  Drain  the rest  of the brake
   fluid from  both, the hose and  the  slave cylinder (push  the piston
   back manually).

The Slave Cylinder Repair Kit
-----------------------------

The slave cylinder repair kit contains

   - a boot for the push rod

   - a main seal for the piston

   - a cap for the bleeding valve

Repairing the Clutch Slave Cylinder
-----------------------------------

1. Place the slave cylinder in a vise,  bleeding valve down.  As you can
   see now, the piston is retained by a circular clip sitting in a grove
   in the slave  cylinder.  However, that's not  the regular C-clip  you
   can remove with the corresponding  pliers.  Rather use a small  screw
   driver and a  hammer and drive  the screw driver  between circlip and
   slave cylinder at  the side oposite the gap   in the circlip, at  the
   same  time pushing the piston  slightly back with   one finger of the
   hand  holding the screw   driver.   This will  push  one side  of the
   circlip down while the   other end will go   up allowing you now   to
   easily remove the circlip.

2. Next push  the piston down the slave  cylinder, close the opening for
   the hydraulic fitting  with your thumb,  and then suddenly remove the
   thumb so the  piston  will shoot  up and half   way out of  the slave
   cylinder, where you  now can easily pull it  out  altogether.  Remove
   the spring  from the rear  end of the  piston and then remove the old
   seal by simply using a srew driver and pulling the seal over the rear
   end of the piston (it's elastic enough).

3. Dry the piston as well as  the inside of the  slave cylinder and then
   use finest emery-cloth to remove any residues from both, cylinder and
   piston.

4. Next, pull the new seal  over the rear  end of the piston.  Mind that
   the upper and lower edges of the seal have different outer diameters.
   The  greater  outer diameter points  to the  rear  end of the piston,
   where the spring is  attached.  Put spring  and piston back into  the
   slave  cylinder, push  the piston    down  a little, and insert   the
   circlip.

5. Now  turn the slave  cylinder in the  vise  upside down,  so that the
   bleeding valve is pointing upwards.  Again  apply some WD40, then use
   a 7mm wrench to screw the  valve entirely out  of the slave cylinder.
   Clean the valve, in particular the  little hole near the pointed end,
   then reassemble the valve and close it tightly.

Installing the Clutch Slave Cylinder
------------------------------------

Basically undo all the steps you did before to remove the slave cylinder
in reverse order.  However, mind a few things:

   - Put  one  of the copper washers   on the  hydraulic  bolt, then the
     hydraulic  eye, then the   other   copper washer.  Then screw   the
     hydraulic fitting into the   slave cylinder.  To tighten  the bolt,
     again form a flat  triangle with the  slave cylinder and a 17mm box
     wrench.  This  time, however, the  box wrench is  at the left side,
     the slave cylinder at the right, and the head of the hydraulic bolt
     is again facing you.  The rubber boot  should not yet be installed.
     Before you fasten  the bolt by placing  this triangle on a piece of
     wood and striking the eye of the wrench more  or less gently with a
     hammer, make  sure the orientaion of the  hydraulic hose is roughly
     perpendicular to the slave cylinder and downward.

   - Top off the  brake fluid reservoir in   the instrument cluster  and
     bleed the system.  The bleeding valve is easily accessible now with
     the slave cylinder just hanging below the  tranny, and you can also
     easily check for any leaks (if the slave cylinder is leaking at the
     hydraulic   fitting you probably forgot to    insert one of the two
     copper washers).

   - Install the rubber boot (but not yet the push rod) at the lower end
     of the  slave cylinder and -- folding  the rubber  boot against the
     slave  cylinder -- persuade  the slave cylinder  to go up above its
     mounting bracket again.  Insert the  rear bolt from below and screw
     on the nut a few turns only.  Then insert the  push rod between the
     clutch operating lever  and  the slave  cylinder piston, press  the
     slave cylinder down against its  mounting bracket, insert the front
     bolt with its shaft pointing up, and screw  on the nut.  Fasten the
     front bolt from below using a 13mm socket on a long extension and a
     13mm  wrench to fix the  bolt, then fasten the   rear bolt from the
     engine  bay using two 13mm wrenches.   Place the rubber  cap on the
     bleeding valve.

   - Pull  the lower end  of the rubber boot down  the push rod until it
     sits in the small grove  at the lower end of  the rod.  Attach  the
     two clamps to the frame that are holding the flexible clutch hose.

   - Test  the operation   of the clutch: pull   parking brake,  put the
     tranny into  first gear,  step on  both, the brake  and  the clutch
     pedal, and then start the engine.

-------------------------------------------------
Tim King wrote:
>
>Hey Folks, I've got a slave tip that will save you some
>time on this. Brent, sorry I didn't see this earlier,
>but just got back into the country. (Three weeks in
>France. Boy French vehicles have come a long
>way. We had a diesel Renault Laguna that was frankly
>sweet. Only saw about five vanagons the whole
>time, but many many other delivery-style vans.) Anyway,
>I digress...
>
>I got a tip from Daryl at AA transaxle that makes
>removing the slave on a syncro a snap. Basically,
>you just remove the slave bracket from the tranny by
>removing ONE snap ring then the clutch lever.
>
>1. Move slave shaft/boot off clutch lever ball. If your
>slave is totally shot, you can usually just push the
>slave cylinder shaft/boot off the ball on the clutch
>lever. If it's a good slave (say you are just R and
>Ring the tranny), you may need to open the bleeder to
>make it easy to remove. Just lever it free, then
>let it hang free.
>
>2. Wiggle the clutch lever off the shaft. If it's been
>there for a while, you may need some liquid wrench
>or something, but it should come off by hand.
>
>3. Pull the bracket and slave off as one unit.
>
>4. Pull the unit down under the van (you put it on
>ramps, right?) and work on it where you have access
>to it from both ends and room for standard wrenches.
>You may need to remove a couple of the hose
>clamps holding the hose to your tranny to give you more
>slack.
>
>5. Bolt on new unit and install in reverse.
>
>6. Pressure bleed system and hit the road.
>
>Using this method takes about 30-40 minutes total,
>assuming you are using a pressure bleeder like
>Brent recommends.
>
>Note: I'm not sure if it's syncro specific -- I think
>it requires the flexible plastic fluid lines of the
>syncro,
>something my 83 vanagon was lacking.
>
>Have fun. This tip from trannyman extraordinaire Daryll
>at AA transaxle makes a drag of a job a LOT
>easier.
>
>Tim King
>Seattle, WA
>87 Syncro Westy

_________________________________________________________________
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