Clutch Slave Cylinder Shafts - They're Different

[shadetreemech]

Bought a Slave Cylinder for my '88 Westy a few months ago new from Bus Depot. Pulled the old leaky one out this morning. Comparing new to old, the shafts are different diameters and lengths.

The old shaft is on the left. The new shaft has no receiver for the actuator rod.

I tried to call Bus Depot: they're closed 'til after New Year's while they relocate.

Any input is appreciated.

Dan
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'84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY"

[CessnaJon]

Ran into this last week while replacing my clutch slave cylinder. I reused the old longer plunger. Seems to work fine.
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1973 Westy (shared birthday)
1990 Westy Multivan
2015 Passat TDI 6sp
2015 Sportwagon TDI 6sp
LR-JET, Gulfstream 159

[shadetreemech]

(thumbs up)
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'84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY"

[connorsvw2]

This might be to compensate for different slave piston diameters and therefore different travel distance. Ask me how I know...
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'85 Westy Wolfsburg camper/2002 2.5 Subaru since 2003.
'85 GTI 1.8L 1-owner 8v-gave up on 9A 2.0L 16v transplant. Keeping her stock!
'99 Passat 1.8T Variant-AKA "The Money Pit". Still limping along...
'09 Subaru Outback XT 5-speed, 245 hp rocket (wife's car)

[Rorke]

Jeff at AutoVentures fixed this for me.
He placed a spare small socket head on the rod before installing. This brought the length to stock. It worked.
Ultimately, I took it out and replaced with a different one from my parts collection.
Good luck.

[ZsZ]

The left is the FTE type one, the right is the ATE type one.
Aftermarket cylinders are usually copies of the ATE version.
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Zoltan
1.9 MTdi 2wd Multivan (ex Caravelle)
Van since 2006, engine since 2008

[patrickgreen]

Ironically I am swapping out my slave cylinder today on my 82 diesel Westy. What is the difference between FTE and ATE? Do they require different fluids? I seem to have some sort of leak with my slave cylinder every four years or so and was wondering if the fluid I am using is not compatible with the seals in the cylinder.

[ZsZ]

[patrickgreen]

Thank you for that useful information.
Taking the old cylinder off of course I broke the hydraulic line going right into the slave cylinder. Looking for replacements I see that there are after-market rubber ones for other vehicles. Are there any better solutions to the stock setup?
Not that that one is rocket science material. Would be happy with a stock replacement if I can source that. Back to internet searching.

[ZsZ]

[4Gears4Tires]

[shadetreemech]

Twiddlin' my thumbs 'til next year.

Dan
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'84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY"

[ALIKA T3]

I had some clutch issues a few months ago in El Salvador stuck on a beach with my van. Pilot bushing for the input shaft was at fault ( a custom made part that turned out to be a downgrade )
I was playing with slave cylinders.
Like mentioned above, original VW slaves made by FTE or ATE differ by pistons and rod pairing from the aftermarket.
I tried a longer rod to gain more travel, it doesn't matter, as you just compress the cylinder inside the slave while static, the travel remains the same, given by the master cylinder.
It is worth noting the arm on the bellhousing is clocked differently between gasser and diesel. I have a gasser arm on a diesel bellhousing, and indeed it doesn't change anything, you just work the slave more on the last part of the travel of the piston rather than the early part of the travel. Still works, at least for me ( single mass flywheel and clutch, and I later switched to dual mass flywheel and clutch).

It is worth noting the Topran brand slave cylinder is not threaded deep enough to accomodate the Syncro factory banjo, the seal washers don't get crushed enough and it pisses like a sieve. I had to cut the banjo bolt with a Dremel on the beach....
Syncro banjo bolt in Topran clutch slave cylinder

Same in FTE slave cylinder

I annealed the crush washers and rubbed them on a file. I was going nuts bc it kept pissing fluid just sitting there! It took me a few times to understand...

Then I cut the bolt

FTE rod vs Topran rod. Don't mix parts and you'll be fine. In my case I tried mixing them, it was still fine

35 years old ATE factory rubber cap vs cheap chinese rubber cap from Topran

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Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget