How does a bad Clutch Master Cyl behave/feel ?

[Panici]

Drove my orange E36 328i for the first time in some months yesterday.

The ride to work was fine, maybe the clutch engagement point was a little high? No slipping at WOT.

On the way back from work, started shifting hard (force required to engage lever into next gear).
By the time I got home, with the clutch pedal pressed to the floor, the car would still roll as if clutch was partially engaged. I couldn't pull the shifter out of gear.
Checked the brake fluid and it wasn't low.

I replaced the slave cyl previously.
When that was going bad, it felt like pedal going to the floor and staying there. Could sometimes pump it up. Loss of brake fluid as well.

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Just thinking out loud, but when a master cyl goes bad, can the fluid leak past the seal?
Would this produce less hydraulic pressure to send to the slave, and leave the clutch partially engaged?

[ehrawn]

Those are all common symptoms of failure in the clutch system, but it could be anything: master/ slave cylinders, lines or the clutch, itself. You could try to inspect each component to narrow down which one (or multiple) is having problems, or just replace everything, depending on you tolerance for downtime.

[MrBurgundy]

sometimes fluid just moves past the cylinder seal

have someone depress the pedal and crack the slave bleeder and see what happens


EDIT;

thinking about this a little more

here at the shop bad masters come in with a pedal to the floor 9/10 times

usually with that kind of an issue you describes it a bad clutch spring/pressure plate

Just do what I mentioned above. If you get a good fountain of brake fluid then it's most likely a bad clutch. Not necessarily a worn friction plate but something in the pressure plate, or clutch springs.

Also, try pumping the clutch repeatedly and see if it works better. If it's bleeding off pressure as you actuate, doing this will help build pressure

[Panici]

sometimes fluid just moves past the cylinder seal

have someone depress the pedal and crack the slave bleeder and see what happens

EDIT;

thinking about this a little more

here at the shop bad masters come in with a pedal to the floor 9/10 times

usually with that kind of an issue you describes it a bad clutch spring/pressure plate

Just do what I mentioned above. If you get a good fountain of brake fluid then it's most likely a bad clutch. Not necessarily a worn friction plate but something in the pressure plate, or clutch springs.

Also, try pumping the clutch repeatedly and see if it works better. If it's bleeding off pressure as you actuate, doing this will help build pressure

I did try pumping the clutch that day, it didn't seem to make a difference.

I will try with the bleeder as you've suggested.

Hoping I don't have to drop the trans, will probably throw a new master on it before I go that far. I have a brand new one in the basement.

[lukeADE335i]

That sounds more like clutch failure than the master cylinder to me, but fingers crossed. When my master cylinder was on its way out, the pedal would slowly get lower and lower while I was driving, but you could pump it back up.