never messed with a hydraulic clutch system before but my master cylinder is leaking so im just going to replace the whole system on '96 dakota 3.9l 4x4 ax15 trans. i have a few questions.

whats the best/cheapest place to get oem parts (i need the whole hydraulic clutch assembly) ?

wholesalemopar.com is showing the slave/master and hydraulic tube for $200. thats seems like a decent price considering aftermarket stuff is about the same price. if i bought this, am i correct in thinking i would just need to use my old resorvior ? what about the push rod from the clutch pedal, do i just have to reuse that also ?

obviously the system would need to be bled. is it difficult to do or is there some instructions with the parts ?

 

The system is un-serviceable which means it can not be bleed, it is all to be replaced as an entire sealed unit. There is a hard way to bleed it, the FAQ has the link.

 

i realize its not servicable. but from what ive seen (atleast on wholesale mopar.com) it doesnt show the resovior as a item included with the hydraulic assembly. unless its a typo and does include the resovior. but without that resorvior, there can not be any fliud in the rest of the assembly which meens it will need bled. has anyone bought a complete oem hydraulic clutch assembly for a dakota that confirm what parts it comes with ?

maybe they fill the slave/master and line with fluid then put a plug where there resorvoir would go and when it gets to your house you have to hook your resorvoir into the new assembly quickly to avoid any air ?

 

Im with him ^^^ according to the auto parts place i can buy just a slave... but other places say its a closed system

 

O.K. here you go it is old but it works to get rid of air in a hydro system. It also works on brakes with a rusted up bleeder. You pump the pedal 4 or 5 times fast and stop fully depressed. Hold it for 10 seconds and then let the pedal up slowly.If you have a second person available have them take the cap off of the resivor before you let up on the pedal slowly, if air is there there will be bubbles. Always put the cap back on for the fast pumping if you use this idea. (If you have the second person make sure they have safety glasses cause hydro fluid is tough on the eyes). Do this repeatedly up to 10 times. If there was air in the hydralic system it will slowly work out and you will be able to feel the change. If you have internal seal wear, either on the reserve on the slave end there will be no change in pedal affect.

 

you might beable to change over to a hydraulic system from another vehicle. after i melted the factory one on my old truck i changed over to one from a chevy. not sure which one though, my autoparts girl(not a typo) and i went through a stack of slave/master/line parts till we made one that worked

 

heres how i look at it: if either the master or slave is old and leaking, the other one probly aint far behind. i see a total waste of time fooling around just changing one part. im going with a whole new oem hydro unit. originally i was confused about exactly what parts you get with the oem hyrdo system but i called a website that sells oem dodge parts and the dude on the phone said his computer showed it was the WHOLE setup from the slave to the resorvior. im buying one real soon when i get a few minutes free time to place the order. i checked into aftermarket stuff and it was the same price as oem parts. thats a no brainer which one im going with.

 

update on this. finnaly got the whole new oem hydro system. it comes as a complete sealed unit already with fluid, just in case anyone was wondering. anyone installed one of these ? i have the service manual and it looks easy but my only question is, on the slave theres a plastic cap on the end of the rod with 2 straps holding the slave rod in. its hard to understand exactly what the book is saying but as i understand, the plastic cap has to remain on the rod and goes into the release fork. so i guess you cut the straps (while leaving the cap on the end of the rod) and the rod extends out and just slide it through the bell housing to the release fork ?

 

Packaed as you describe sounds like its similar to shocks. Possibly the idea is mount it and then cut the straps, or will strap placement prevent that?

 

yes similar to a shock. you can see the plastic cap on the end of the slave rod and the straps holding it in. the straps would have to be cut before installation into the bell housing, no way to cut them afterwards. i have the factory service manual and if i understand it correctly, it says to make sure the plastic cap engages into the release fork, but makes no mention of what to do with the straps. only thing i can think of is to cut the straps right near the cap and that will let the rod extend out, then i just put the slave unit into the bell housing, making sure the cap goes into the concave on the release fork. i have to pick up some parts from the local dodge dealer tomorrow and i plan to ask one of the techs what they say. but i dont see any other way it could logically be installed. the only other clutch ive worked on was a old ford and it didnt use a plastic cap like this, but the cap makes sense to reduce the wear on the rod and release fork. sorry for all the questions but i like to do stuff right the first time. doing stuff twice gets very frustrating lol