Clutch bit point on the floor

[Steve.p]

Hi, I've got a mk4 mondeo and I'm having an issue with the clutch. 

All was good then the next time I went out it was hard to get in the gears, it won't go in reverse at all. The bite point is past the floor so when I'm trying to go into gear the clutch isn't pressed down far enough. 

The car had a new clutch about 2/3 years ago before I had the car.

Any help would be much appreciated. 

[TomsFocus]

As it had a new clutch recently, master cylinder would be the first thing to check, and try bleeding the clutch line.

If that's fine then it'll need the gearbox removed to check the slave cylinder & clutch itself.  Bad luck if it does need a new clutch or slave again already though!

[Steve.p]

The clutch was done about 2/3 years ago. 

I did have to top up the brake fluid, so I'm hoping it will just need bleeding. I've read something about reverse bleeding. Dose it make a difference if I do it the normal way by pressing the clutch or doing it with a syringe from the bleed nipple?

[TomsFocus]

Brake fluid shouldn't need topping up so I'd suggest either the master or slave are leaking.  Was it below the minimum marker?  Can you see any leaks?  Only other reason for low brake fluid is very low brake pads so that might be worth checking.

You can bleed it either way, the end result will be the same as long as you can get all the air out.  They can be a pain to bleed from the pedal though so it's best to pressure bleed them if possible. 

[Steve.p]

It didn't look like it was below the minimum bit it took more that I expected to see the level rise.

I've not seen and leaks at all.

There was no sign of anything going wrong, it was all good then 2 hours later after been parked up it was bad, and it's not got any worse. 

Sometimes it's easier to get into gear and then it can be a pig, but will not go into reverse unless I turn it off to put it in reverse. 

[TomsFocus]

9 minutes ago, Steve.p said:

It didn't look like it was below the minimum bit it took more that I expected to see the level rise.

I've not seen and leaks at all.

There was no sign of anything going wrong, it was all good then 2 hours later after been parked up it was bad, and it's not got any worse. 

Sometimes it's easier to get into gear and then it can be a pig, but will not go into reverse unless I turn it off to put it in reverse. 

Ok, well I still think it's going to be either the master or slave faulty myself.  But there's no harm in bleeding it first, could be an easy fix!

Only thing I would say is don't keep trying to force it into gear when it won't go, I broke a couple of gear linkages doing that when my clutch was dragging...ended up needed linkages as well as the new clutch lol!

[Steve.p]

Thanks for the help Tom, I'm trying to keep positive and optimistic 😔

[nicam49]

Have a look under the gearbox, at where it joins to the engine, see if any brake fluid is dropping out... if it is, then the slave cylinder is poorly. 

[Steve.p]

Thanks nicam

[isetta]

If you pump clutch pedal up and down vigorously does it get better ie. bite point gets higher. Brake fluid leak could cause this problem. The clutch fluid take off point is higher up on reservoir than the brake fluid take off. So a brake fluid leak on the brakes would affect clutch when fluid gets down to certain point. 

[Steve.p]

No it makes no difference at all from what I can tell but i will give it a go in the morning to check. I've done a good 80 miles or so from the start of the issue and there's no real difference.

I'm hoping that it's just the case the fluid has dropped naturally below the pick up and it's got a bit of air in the system with it not getting any worse. 

The brakes seem spot on but I'll double check the as well to see if there's any travel on the pedal.