Well after driving over 700 miles this week, got back home, went to some friends house, got in the car to go home and noticed that the clutch pedal had virtually no resistance and just went straight to the floor, the gears engaged but the clutch wasnt engaging until my foot was buried into the carpet. Then on the way home really difficult to get the car to go down the gears and it got worse I could hardly engage any of the gears, only numerous double clutcthing seemed to get it into gear..eventually! Anyone I got home ok, and Im hopefully going to be able to claim on my warranty, and take it to a garage. Can anyone tell me what they think is wrong with the car? I've been driving on a run today quite hard and the gears and clutch have both been fine, no slipping or anything unusual, its just gone very suddenly. So is it the clutch thats gone or clutch cable perhaps? Any idea of cost and time to fix it? (2/00)
Slave cylinder. (it is a hydraulic clutch .. so there is a pump under your foot ... a flexible pipe .. and a slave cylinder at the other end .. so no cable) (2/00)
Well I've now checked the clutch fluid (master cylinder?) and found it to be virtually empty! Ive topped it up and the feel has returned to the clutch pedal. If it goes again (which I think it will) I assume I've got a leak somewhere and will get it fixed. So I'll see how long it lasts till it goes again. I looked for signs of a leak under/in the car and can find none and around the master cylinder (I dont know where the slave cylinder is) but couldnt find any. Again anyone who's had similar problems, I'd be interested in any advice you can give me. (2/00)
Get a new slave cylinder or get a rebuild. I would not wait for a long time to get it fixed as you will treat your cars underbody with brake fluid from the slave cylinder, which is an excellent paint stripper. (2/00)
Thanks for your help..just a few more questions.
1) Where is the slave cylinder? Is the one in the engine bay near the drivers side corner the Master or Slave cylinder?
2) How much do they cost?
3) I've got an enthusiasts handbook, so how difficult would it be to fit myself..ie any special tools needed etc? (2/00)

1)That is the master. The slave is bolted to the clutch housing (or the engine???) on the drivers side (RHD). Once under the car, you will spot it easily. Or have a look through the front right wheel arch, youll be able to see it down there, too

2) A new one was a little less than DM 100 (30 quid???). Kits to rebuild them are about a third of that price.

3) No special tools, and not very difficult. A bit messy because of the brake fluid that will run up your arm once you are under the car .... A special spanner for brake lines might come in handy, but any other good open end wrench in the right size (8mm???) will work good enough. (2/00)
It has to happen sooner or later as I do loads of mileage. The clutch started to feel odd last week and by yesterday it had about an inch and a half of spongy free play with the bitepoint near the floor causing me to stall it a couple of times during car park manoeuvres. Got to be the hydraulics which I have suspected since I got the car. The hydraulic fluid was originally black. I changed it but by last week it was black again. I syphoned most of the reservoir out and refilled, but that is again turning black. So I suspect degrading seals in the master cylinder (wouldn't expect grot from the slave cylinder to come up into the reservoir?). From the workshop manual it looks a piece of cake to dismantle - one bolt from behind the steering column, one in the engine bay, a circlip to remove and thats the piston out. I know the question has been asked before but I've forgotten the answer - can you buy seals for the cylinders or does the whole thing have to be replaced at great expense? (5/00)
When I had to renew my clutch slave cylinder a couple of weeks ago, I also noticed that the fluid was black. I looked in the master cylinder and saw some black sludge at the bottom. Whenever I added new fluid, this gradually turned it black. My clutch seems to be working fine now but I would also like to know what that sludge is. Can it really be from the seals?! This might sound silly but I wondered whether it was a dye added to make the fluid level easier to see through what is a rather opaque reservoir??!! (5/00)
The 'black' is carbon black added to the rubber seals to make them black!!! .. something from 3 years looking at master cylinders doing this with Lucas Girlings as a development engineer. (5/00)
Hmmm.....used Roadster Thurs/Fri of last week - no problems whatsoever....usually "light-switch" gearchange. Moved it on the drive on Saturday....no problem (apparent) Went to go out in it last night - er....no gears. Eventually started it in first and had a very "notchy" journey. Used the car today and the matter is now dire - went for a gear this morning and ended up having to coast around the next bend. Same again when we left work tonight. Had to start the car in reverse to pull out, then stop the car, start in first and then double de-clutch up and down the box! Is this what it's like when the clutch goes? (9/00)
How much pedal pressure do you have? Check the clutch reservoir and top up if necessary. A leak from the clutch slave cylinder is possible, as it seems pretty common (not expensive). The symptons aren't always totla loss of pedal pressure (thats when you get a massive leak, buts its more common to have a slow leak). I've found the pedal gets marginally more "floppy". Topping up, and a few pumps sorts it out for the moment. When the clutch goes on these, I think its usually the classic clutch slippage, with bite point usually at the top of travel. When the clutch plates bind, thats more usual in fwd cars. (9/00)
Thanks for replies on this thus far - the one thing I didn't mention was that, at standstill, you can hear and "feel" a whirring sound as you try for gears. (9/00)
Clutch reservoir drier than a witches ti....er.......fuel pump this time last week. Filled up with fluid, had a good pump (they can't touch you for it) and had gears. Still a tad notchy but then we know all is not well... Phew - easy one to fix then. Thanks again all who commented. "Mileage" is 78,000 KM.....is that about the going rate for this problem? I realise it will vary with specific usage but might be a useful diary note for other owners. (9/00)
Fitted a new clutch cylinder at the weekend, to replace one that had been leaking for quite a while. Straightforward job. I drained the clutch master cylinder beforehand, using a 60ml syringe and tubing. Undid the line, and removed the old cylinder; top 12mm bolt easy to get to, through the wheel well. Bottom one was more akward, being behind the suspension arm; a universal joint extension would have been helpful. The old cylinder looked wet from the outside. When I took it apart, the bellows rubber boot was full of brake fluid, and some pitting on the cylinder wall. The replacement unit only cost £25, so it wasn't worth messing around with the overhaul kit. The clutch fluid line needs a bit of bending to go in straight, without cross threading. I found I needed to prime the cylinder before bleeding; easy to do by drawing through brake fluid through the bleed nipple. After bleeding, the clutch now feels like new, with none of the free play I had before. (2/01)