Clutch hydraulic trouble ('87 Spider)

["Dean W. Cains" <dwc@xxxxxx>]

Hi Group:

I need some advice about the clutch hydraulics on my '87 Spider.  here's 
what happened:

Last Thursday AM I got in the car and discovered no pressure in the clutch 
system.  I hadn't driven the car in about a week, and had previously 
noticed that the slave had been leaking slightly.  I got the car up on the 
jack stands, and the rubber boot on the slave was swollen to about 3 times 
normal size.  When I punctured it, lots of rusty-looking fluid squirted 
out.  So I replaced the slave, noticed the back of the MC looked a bit wet, 
and I just replaced that, too.  The rubber hose looks good, all the 
connections are dry and tight, and the hard line looks OK, dry, but a bit 
rusty.

Usually I just let the slave hang under the car and gravity bleed the 
system for a few minutes, before mounting it in the bellhousing; a method 
that has always worked for me.  This time, I let a pint of fluid bleed out, 
and got an almost continuous stream of bubbles, large and small.  I tried a 
pressure bleed, too, with the same result.  There was so much air, that it 
must have been coming in as fast as it was going out.  Here's a weird 
artifact I noticed.  When I release the air bleeding pressure from the MC 
reservoir, several large bubbles come out of the two holes in the MC body 
that the fluid drains into from the reservoir.  It will happen virtually 
every time.  I even tried just using my mouth to put a little pressure in 
the reservoir, and every time, I get those same bubbles up through the 
fluid in the reservoir.  The pushrod side of the MC doesn't seem to be 
leaking any fluid, either.

It may also be worth mentioning that both parts appear to be what's been 
called "OEM-quality" by some vendors.  The slave came from IAP, and the MC 
from Linea Rossa.  The last time I bought these parts for my other Spider, 
it was a few years ago, and the parts came in Ate or Benditalia boxes, so 
there was never any question about their quality and origin.  This time the 
slave was generic, without part numbers or even new circlips, and it was 
delivered in an unmarked plastic bag.  Same for the MC, except it looks to 
be poorly-made (maybe from Eastern Europe?), with a smallish rectangular 
reservoir that has to be pulled to access the top mounting nut, and both 
the reservoir and its cap are made of very thin plastic.  Not exactly what 
I was hoping for.

So, what's going on here?  Any ideas?  I've never spent more than a few 
minutes on a clutch bleed, and usually only bleed out maybe a cup of 
fluid.  I'm assuming the new slave is OK, since I'm getting those strange 
bubbles from the MC, and also because the slave is a much simpler 
part.  Anyone think I bought a bad MC, as I do?

Regards,

Dean
Lutz, FL
'74 & '87 Spider Veloce's 
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