mirror parts, clutch pedal shaft

[DX702682]

Dear All,

Sorry for continuing post. I didn't want to make a post too long.

I suffered from the mirror internal gears breaking, struggled with commercial replacement parts (fully plastic). Roy gave me some stories, then I decided to fix the broken parts. It's working well so far. My brother actually did for me; he made a copy of the original by inserting stainless pins into a reproduction part, he fixed a broken one by inserting full-thickness brass pins, and he also made a complete brass copy. Did anyone suffered from the reproduction part like I did?

My current concern is the clutch pedal making a squeaky noise when pressed. I think it's coming from its shaft going through the bulkhead, where I saw some wet dust piling up (photo). Can I just clean off the dust and put some thick mechanical grease at this spot for lubrication?

[DX702682]

I decided to grease the shaft up, but it didn't solve the squeak noise. It appears the noise is coming from the master cylinder. Did anyone have the same issue? I'm not very familiar with the inside of the master cylinder - can one grease up the inside without leaking the fluid?

Hisashi

[suffolkpete]

Yes, but you must use special red rubber grease.  Ordinary grease will attack the seals.

[DX702682]

Oh, thank you for the good advice. I have just ordered a jar of it. So you are saying, as far as the cylinder has no damage inside, the fluid should not spill when it is removed from the bulkhead, right?

[suffolkpete]

No, as long as the pipes remain connected.

[roy4matra]

I decided to grease the shaft up, but it didn't solve the squeak noise. It appears the noise is coming from the master cylinder. Did anyone have the same issue? I'm not very familiar with the inside of the master cylinder - can one grease up the inside without leaking the fluid?

Hisashi

Greasing the shaft is unlikely to solve this squeak I fear.  The pedal rod simply pushes the piston inside the clutch master cylinder, and it returns under spring pressure (with some assistance from the pressure plate returning to its uncompressed state).  Now if there is a squeak when you pressure pedal down, that is either coming from the pedal pivot or rod pivot, or it is the clutch master cylinder piston rubbing the inside of the bore.

Removing the clutch master cylinder from the bulkhead will do nothing, and there is nothing you can lubricate to stop any squeak.  A squeak is usually caused by two parts rubbing one another, and since the only item moving and therefore likely to be rubbing, is the piston.  To get at that, you would need to strip the master cylinder and therefore you would need to drain the clutch fluid first.

Roy

[DX702682]

I tried, and now understand your advices better. What I imaged first was such that the shaft (push rod) and master cylinder were different bodies and making an external mechanical contact at the piston end which I hoped to grease up. I had seen something similar on YouTube. But that wasn't true, the push rod was a part of the master cylinder and when I unbolted the master cylinder I saw everything was still connected all the way to the clutch pedal. Bummer.

I haven't fixed anything, but learned something :-)

[Matraman]

I've been looking at fixing my door mirrors. Once I know how to get them apart I'll be able to see what is broken, but I don't want to force anything yet in case something irreplaceable breaks!

If the same pins are broken on mine I might try replacing them with roll pins, or maybe your brother could fix mine as well??

[suffolkpete]

You can remove the mirror from the car by removing the two knobs inside the car by unscrewing the centre screw then unscrewing the metal retaining ring behind them.  Remove the glass by prising out the retainer round the edge, this will then give access to the fixings for the mirror shell.  Dismantle the mechanism by unscrewing the centre brass rod.  Re-assembly, as they say in all the best manuals, is the reverse of dismantling.  You will need nimble fingers and a lot of patience!