Clutch pedal sometimes not returning completely

[Tangent]

For the last couple of days I've noticed that my clutch pedal hasn't been coming all the way up every time after hitting the clutch. The strange thing is that even though it's staying down at what would normally be the point where I'd get some slip it is behaving as though it's fully engaged. When I hit the clutch from there it seems as though the clutch was designed to be like that. The engagement point seems to have been lowered so I get full engagement and disengagement, just with roughly half the pedal travel. If I leave it alone it works fine but I get the impression that the travel reduces more and more, just really slowly so I'm not positive that it really does.

If I tap the pedal or put my foot under it and give it the slightest tug it comes back up to it's normal position and will operate completely normally for quite a while. If this was consistent it would be great, it's a nice short travel and works just fine but I'm just afraid that it's a sign of something going wrong. Any ideas for what would cause this?

[///M42 sport]

maybe the slave cylinder is bad?
________
VanitBeauty

[///Mtechnik88]

Re: Clutch pedal sometimes not returning completely

For the last couple of days I've noticed that my clutch pedal hasn't been coming all the way up every time after hitting the clutch. The strange thing is that even though it's staying down at what would normally be the point where I'd get some slip it is behaving as though it's fully engaged. When I hit the clutch from there it seems as though the clutch was designed to be like that. The engagement point seems to have been lowered so I get full engagement and disengagement, just with roughly half the pedal travel. If I leave it alone it works fine but I get the impression that the travel reduces more and more, just really slowly so I'm not positive that it really does.

If I tap the pedal or put my foot under it and give it the slightest tug it comes back up to it's normal position and will operate completely normally for quite a while. If this was consistent it would be great, it's a nice short travel and works just fine but I'm just afraid that it's a sign of something going wrong. Any ideas for what would cause this?

It's the slave cylinder. I had the same issue happen a few years back when I was driving home. The problem will get worse and very fast where the clutch will hit the floor and never come back up. I'd spend the extra money and replace it, and the clutch master cylinder together. No need to run the risk of an old clutch cylinder failing after adding a brand new slave cylinder.

[C ///M]

Yea, definitely the slave. Mine completely went and the clutch pedal went to the floor and never came back.

[Tangent]

Damn. How big of a job is replacing the master and slave cylinders? Please tell me that getting to the slave doesn't require pulling the trans... My Bentley manual will be on the way shortly but right now I'm still an E30 noob.

[///M42 sport]

I heard its moderately hard b/c there's not much room to work with.
________
Justin bieber

[rayz]

the slave is easy, the master is the hard part, cause its under the dash, below the steering column. the only hard part about the slave is if your car is slammed and you cant get the car high enough off the ground. check if your master is leaking. look at the floor board behind the clutch pedal.
replace both of them at the same time.

[DrMcDave]

mine did that once, i put some fluid in, pumped it a few times and it was back to normal, no idea what the hell happened but its been about 8 months now with no signs of failure.

[nzer]

Both are fairly straight forward jobs - easy with the bentleys. Definately home jobs.