Hello all. I'm a new driver and new ST-162 owner, so bear with me. I just bought a 1989 Celica GTS with 5-speed manual about four months ago. I haven't driven it much since I picked it up, and it had sat even longer (over one year) on the dealer's lot before that. I know this because I used to walk past it on my way home, and watched as the price dropped gradually from $5000 to $1000. I had the car mechanically inspected before I laid down the money. It passed with a few issues, mostly minor oil leaks. Noted is that the radiator and sunroof have been rebuilt, but otherwise everything is original and works well, including the entire power group. There's no corrosion anywhere to be found, no bondo, and only 195,000 clicks on the odo. The car starts with minor hesitation, but given the old gas sitting in the tank, I'm not surprised. A problem that's cropped up recently is with the clutch. When I push down the pedal, it goes straight to the floor and stays there. I have to manually fish it back up to the normal position by hand. If I play with it several times, pumping it down and pulling it back up again, something connects and the clutch is fine and the car can be driven. But, leave it sitting for a couple of weeks and it's back to square one. While not a Celica expert by any means (yet), I've heard that the clutch is operated by some kind of means of gas cylinder or vacuum actuation. This is where you guys come in. Are these symptoms as critical as I feel they are? Is this a fix a relative newbie could do himself? Secondarily, what other vital maintenance should I perform first on a car that's been parked for so long? Apart from a complete fluid change, and new spark plugs, for example. Thanks in advance!
Change anything rubber under the hood. Belts, hoses, etc. I'd run a seafoam treatment through it as well. Now about your clutch, it is a hydraulic unit. You'll have a master and slave cylinder. The master cylinder is in the engine bay, drivers side between the brake booster and fender. The slave is on front of the transmission by the starter. To save all the hassle of troubleshooting, just replace the master and slave. It's around $40 for both of them new. If you were to peek at your slave cylinder and move the rubber dust boot there's probably brake fluid there. Same with peeking under the dash at the master, it may be a bit moist there.
That's awesome. I was worried it was going to be a pricier fix than that. Do the cylinders have a parts number I can refer to? For if I want to source some myself, and pay just for the labor of a mechanic installing them. Also, in its current state, is the clutch going to fail at random? All my local friends who drive Japanese imports swear by one mechanic who's miles away. I'd like to avoid being stranded by the roadside, so I'm wondering if I should just pay up for a tow truck.
Clutch staying to floor is most likely slave cylinder leaking...... Replace it they are only like 12 bucks at most auto parts stores
Assuming from the condition of hydraulic system I doubt clutch is in good condition if you can I say replace all of clutch system.. But realistically money wise just replace slave slave cylinder and replace fluid, bleed clutch properly and go from there...
Thanks for all the great advice. Do you think the clutch will fail completely on an hour long drive to the mechanic (in urban traffic, so with plenty of shifting)?
impossible to say whether it will fail.......... I would at least identify and fix the hydraulic leak first before a long trip... Where are you located by the way?
Tow it to a mechanic or risk having an accident, if you have a mechanical friend you could just buy the cyl's and do it yourself, it's not a difficult job Replace the clutch master and slave cyl's and bleed properly, any leaks from either and it's time to chuck them out, in the old days I would replace the seals but now these are so cheap it's better to replace them I've had to replace my master and slave cyl's in the last year, I had the same symptoms you are having, and no your clutch plate should be fine, unless it has been slipping.
Decided to poke around the engine bay when I got home tonight. Had a look at the cylinders and snapped pictures for all to see. Master looks fine, no signs of leaks, reservoir full of (slightly cloudy) brake fluid. No leaks apparent under the dashboard, although the clutch pedal and assembly has some signs of rust. Slave is pretty rusty. Again, no signs of leaks but then the car's been sitting for a while and perhaps any leaked fluid has evaporated. When both dust boots are removed the rods inside are rusty and bone dry. Clutch pedal was going straight to the floor when I tried it, pumped it three times and it's firm and useable again. I'm waiting for repair quotes from several local mechanics. Probably just going to shell out for towing and a shop fix.
In that case I'd bleed it and try it again Fill the reservoir with new fluid, open the nipple on the slave with an 8mm spanner and just let it run till there's clear fluid and no bubbles coming out. Close the nipple and see if the clutch starts to work. If the seals inside are damaged it doesn't mean there will be fluid leaking
Just replace them. They're cheap enough to replace and it'll save you the hassle. Chances are like he said the rubber seals internally are dry rotted. The car has been sitting for a year.
Repair quote is $320 for parts and labor and $60 to tow. In the meantime I think I'm going to try bleeding the slave. *UPDATE* I bled the slave cylinder dry, releasing about an eighth of a cup of very dirty green brake fluid. Once I refilled and got rid of the bubbles, the clutch pedal firmed up and has spring again. I will now let the car sit for a while and see if it still works later.
my slave cylinder just all of a sudden "exploded", by that all the fluid just shot out in one pedal press. before that there were no signs of it weakening. i was stuck at a stoplight and 30 min later my friend dropped off a new slave cylinder ($30), 30 min later with a 8mm wrench and 10+12mm socket i was back on the road. the other time was the metal line itself leading up to the slavecylinder rusted a portion and allowed it to leak. sourced one from a 5th gen in the nearest junkyard and i was good to go.
Ridiculously bad or ridiculously good lol? All my local ricer-driving friends swear by this particular shop for being skillful with Celi's and relatively cheap. Pleased to meet you finally Mafix, btw. I've heard nothing but good things about you so far
Definitely green, almost like a dark shade of antifreeze with murky black stuff in it. The new stuff is applejuice coloured. As I bled the line a few times it flushed through sediment but is clear now. I see you're in Vancouver nTrax ... we should meet sometime I'm on the mainland and check out our rides.
