Clutch pedal falls to floor - slave cylinder?

kiz17 · Apr 27, 2019

Hi all

I’ve had a dreadful Saturday. I drove to the gym as normal, came out of the gym and got 3 minutes down the road, attempted to pull out of a roundabout when my clutch pedal fell to the floor and didn’t return. Got stuck on the middle of a roundabout for a good 10 minutes! Luckily a police car drove past and helped me push it up onto a curb - it’s all fun and games!

Once I got towed home and got it on the drive, I had a look underneath and could see quite a considerable leak. It’s a light yellow - looks like brake fluid to me.

I’ve done some research online, asked a few friends and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s likely my slave cylinder that has failed? Could also be the master cylinder but as it’s leaking I’m leaning more towards the SC?

I wanted to ask if anyone has experienced anything like this, and if it is the slave cylinder what sort of prices am I looking at to get it fixed? From what I’ve researched it could be up to £1k - pretty terrifying!

Thank you for reading!

45bvtc · Apr 28, 2019

kiz17 said:
Hi all

I’ve had a dreadful Saturday. I drove to the gym as normal, came out of the gym and got 3 minutes down the road, attempted to pull out of a roundabout when my clutch pedal fell to the floor and didn’t return. Got stuck on the middle of a roundabout for a good 10 minutes! Luckily a police car drove past and helped me push it up onto a curb - it’s all fun and games!

Once I got towed home and got it on the drive, I had a look underneath and could see quite a considerable leak. It’s a light yellow - looks like brake fluid to me.

I’ve done some research online, asked a few friends and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s likely my slave cylinder that has failed? Could also be the master cylinder but as it’s leaking I’m leaning more towards the SC?

I wanted to ask if anyone has experienced anything like this, and if it is the slave cylinder what sort of prices am I looking at to get it fixed? From what I’ve researched it could be up to £1k - pretty terrifying!

Thank you for reading!

kiz17 · Apr 28, 2019

45bvtc said:
Your diagnosis is right and a slave cylinder £40 ish but you'll need full vehicle details to purchase...

Thank you for your reply!

That isn’t what I wanted to hear :frown new:

The slave cylinder is located in the gearbox isn't it? So would it be a gearbox off job? If so, this £1k figure is looking very likely :sob:

It’s a 2008 1.8T S Line

KrisKrk · Apr 28, 2019

I had a master clutch cylinder replacement job on my A6, after noticeable internal leak of "oily" liquid.
Had a brakes warning light flashed at me one Sunday morning and went to QuickFit.
One of their "mechanic" wrongly diagnosed brake servo and quoted hundreds £££.
Went to my friendly garage and been diagnosed correctly with quote of about £200 ish. Don't remember now as it was 2 years ago.
They have to get to it from the engine bay, between it and firewall, underneath the windscreen. Awkward location. Only few bits out.
Mine was damaged in such a way so it leaked behind the pedals.
Couple of hours job and you should be back on the road.

Sent from H P20 PRO

45bvtc · Apr 28, 2019

kiz17 said:
Thank you for your reply!

That isn’t what I wanted to hear

The slave cylinder is located in the gearbox isn't it? So would it be a gearbox off job? If so, this £1k figure is looking very likely

It’s a 2008 1.8T S Line

I doubt very much the gearbox will need to be dropped, go check for on-line how-to information and videos; see:

Make sure you've zero leakage around the master cylinder:

kiz17 · Apr 28, 2019

KrisKrk said:
I had a master clutch cylinder replacement job on my A6, after noticeable internal leak of "oily" liquid.
Had a brakes warning light flashed at me one Sunday morning and went to QuickFit.
One of their "mechanic" wrongly diagnosed brake servo and quoted hundreds £££.
Went to my friendly garage and been diagnosed correctly with quote of about £200 ish. Don't remember now as it was 2 years ago.
They have to get to it from the engine bay, between it and firewall, underneath the windscreen. Awkward location. Only few bits out.
Mine was damaged in such a way so it leaked behind the pedals.
Couple of hours job and you should be back on the road.

Sent from H P20 PRO

Sounds like fun! Lucky it was a cheap fix, I don’t think I’m going to share that same luck.

I’ve located my master cylinder and there is some residue on there - it looks like it has been leaking. Although, directly below the MC (near the subframe) I can see a component that looks like it’s the main culprit.

Unless the MC has leaked so much that it has dripped onto other parts? There are no leaks inside the car at all, the MC from inside the car looks dry.

kiz17 · Apr 28, 2019

45bvtc said:
I doubt very much the gearbox will need to be dropped, go check for on-line how-to information and videos; see:

Make sure you've zero leakage around the master cylinder:

Thanks for the link! I actually watched this video yesterday and unfortunately the master cylinder from inside the car (behind the pedal) looks fine :frown new:

I hope the gearbox won’t have to be dropped!? I’ve done a bit of reading and the majority of forums etc say that the gearbox has to be dropped as the slave cylinder is inside the gearbox?

kiz17 · Apr 29, 2019

Just to update anyone who may be following this thread, or may follow it in the future:

A garage had a look at my car today and confirmed the slave cylinder has gone. They gave me good and bad news:

Good news is that the slave cylinder isn’t located inside the gearbox, the bad news is that it’s still an expensive fix.

He gave me a rough quote over the phone of £500 to fix the slave cylinder as well as the master cylinder. He said they tend to replace the slave and master cylinder together, because if one goes it usually blows the other one - is this correct?

My slave cylinder gave me no warning at all, so from experience isn’t it quite hard to tell if it’ll go or not?

kiz17 · May 1, 2019

Again just to update for reference:

I paid £490.36 and got both the slave and master replaced. The clutch and gear changes feels so much better - it must’ve been on its way out for a few months!

Thank you to everyone who helped

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Clutch pedal falls to floor - slave cylinder?

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