clutch master cylinder rebuild kit (1 Viewer)

[djawahir]

Hey guys, I ordered a rebuild kit for my 87 FJ60's master cylinder from Man-a-Fre. I pulled out the old piston from the master cylinder and compared it to the new piston. The new piston is almost 1/4" longer than the old one.

Also, when I install the new piston, it doesn't seem to work properly. There is no fluid movement when I press the clutch pedal. I'm thinking the piston is the wrong one, but I compared part #'s to Man-a-fre's website and they check out correctly.

Has anyone had this problem? Or does any one know what foolish thing I may have done this time?

 

[High Desert]

Don't know about the parts but do know it takes quite a lot of pumping to get the bleeding going from the master to the slave. I thought my rebuilt unit was not pumping, we kept after it and finally got it going. also if your master went out chances are that the slave will quickly follow.

 

[djawahir]

I was able to rebuild the slave easily. So at least half the battle is over. But, I'm taking a 2000 mile road trip this Wednesday and I'd like to have the master rebuilt as well.

Right now, the old master cylinder piston is in and it allows fluid to move into the steel tube. But when I put in the new piston from the rebuild kit, no fluid flows at all. And I pumped the clutch about a million times...

 

[Benji]

I would just drop ~$150 and buy new OEM MC and slave. Gives you peace of mind, plus it makes the job easier.

It did not take very long at all for me to bleed the system. I even ran a little extra fluid through to make sure it was all good.

 

[djawahir]

I thought about getting a new MC, but the rebuild kit looked so easy...just a few parts. It literally took me 30 minutes to bleed the clutch, rebuild the slave, and remove the master and clean it. It's a shame that rebuilding the master requires putting in 3 new parts and I'm having issues...

 

[agent orange]

Is the old piston worn or scored? Couldnt you just put the o-rings or seals or whatever came with the kit onto the old piston so youd have something for your trip? Id call MAF, it sounds like they sent you the wrong part. Maybe your clutch MC is swapped from a different year truck, that could be the issue too.

 

[djawahir]

The old piston isn't worn out. It doesn't look bad at all. I just figured on rebuilding both the master and the slave cylinders at the same time. I didn't think about the clutch MC being from a different year truck. I will definitely check this out and probably call MAF.

Does anyone know if the MC on different models of LC are different lengths?

 

[djawahir]

Ok, I just looked over the vehicle history and both the clutch master cylinder and clutch slave cylinder were replaced in 2000. (No wonder why they looked so darn good...) This could mean that the replaced clutch MC may not be the original one for my 1987 FJ60.

Does anyone know if the clutch MC on FJ40's, early FJ60's etc. are of different lengths?

 

[Cruzerman]

A little off topic, but I just replaced my clutch MC with a Aisin unit from MAF. Works great and I expect many years service out of it. I think it's only like $45 + shipping (don't hold me to that). At that price, I didn't even want to try and rebuild.

______________________
Cruzerman
'85 FJ60
'78 FJ40

 

[ripple]

I just put a kit in my 78 fj40 and the piston is now stuck in the back of the cylinder. I didn't check to see if the new piston was exactly the same length, perhaps it was longer? I think I'm buying a new one now.

 

[djawahir]

I guess a new clutch master cylinder could be the way to go. Especially if it's only $45. The guys at one of the parts stores quoted me $250 for OEM clutch MC. That's why I didn't want to go that route...

Ripple, maybe you want the piston from my rebuild kit...I can't use it for anything.

 

[mrsvle]

When the clutch master was replaced before (in 2000) it might have been a rebuilt from a toyota truck, not a land cruiser. It will bolt up, but the piston size is probably different. Parts stores will try to pass off toyota truck parts as fitting the land cruiser.

 

[High Desert]

people all over the world rebuild these parts, If the cores are not scored and you get the right parts back into them...they'll work and serve well.


But in the throw-away society we live in, "new" is always seemingly the way to go..But after all we are all re-cycleing these old rigs, oops, i have just condradicted myself huh?... well, that won't stop me now,

I just put rebuilt master and slave into my rig...I'll be a man about it though, if they break soon I'll "post it up"

JON

 

[Tinker]

You've probably uncovered what plagues most of us at least sometimes - not knowing if a part is OEM since many of the rigs have had multiple owners.

I rebuilt the MC & slave in my '83 with no issues other than I forgot to check the fluid level after 2-3 years & it almost stranded my wife.

 

[djawahir]

Yeah, I agree about the MC possibly being from another toyota truck. Who knows, right? I think I'd feel better plugging in an OEM clutch MC with the longer piston just because that is the MC it was designed with. I will probably order one soon. Thanks guys!

 

[deaven]

Beware of rebuild kit dimensions - reservoir valve

I just did a rebuild of my 1985 (manufactured in 10/85) FJ60 clutch master cylinder and had a very odd problem: the clutch would "pump up" in pressure, the engage point moving up higher as time went on, until the clutch was starting to disengage without any pedal pressure.

The issue was that the rebuild kit had a slightly longer pin controlling the reservoir valve at the end of the master cylinder bore. As the hydraulic fluid expanded with heat, or as I operated the clutch pedal, the fluid could not escape back into the reservoir since the valve stayed closed. I fixed it by adding a 1-2mm wide metal band crimped around the end of the pin inside the spring part of the piston assembly, which effectively shortened the pin. This allows the valve to open when the piston is fully retracted.

It took me several days of bleeding, pedal adjusting, and head-scratching to figure this one out, so capturing it here for others to find if they run into the same issue.