New clutch slippage, engine chirp, and general grabbers suck ;)

[Sodo]

[Wildthings]

[Abscate]

[YosemiteBound]

Alright, quick update for those super bored souls that have nothing better to do than read my blubbery ramblings:

Took back to the shop today. The mechanic (who is a super nice guy btw) pushed the clutch pedal a few times and said "oh yeah, it's your master cylinder. I'll need to replace that." I totally (nicely) asked him if he, in fact, did install a new clutch. He did. Did he install a new clutch plate as well? Of course he did. Did he happen to machines he fly wheel? He did. Did he see any oil on it or leaking from the main seal? No he did not.

Fine. I just don't get how a master cylinder could make the clutch slip in 4th gear? But these are bizarre little machines. He's gonna have at it today. I really hope - if it is my master cylinder - that I did not screw up my clutch or fly wheel by driving it home while slipping. But I digress.

Also, he thinks that the engine chirp is the alternator... the vacuum hoses and wiring around the distributor etc all look good. New, even. I had a look at them. So he thinks the shimmy could caused by the alternator sticking and the chirp is maybe the bearing going out?

I don't mean to second guess the guy. And I didn't stand there and do that. That's what forums are for, right? I guess all I can say is we'll see. And, blah.
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1985 Westy Round Headlights "Liam"

[MarkWard]

For the clutch hydraulics to cause the clutch to slip as someone else mentioned before, the hydraulics would need to be overcoming the pressure plate enough to let the disc start to slip. Just like when you push the pedal down. That is a really unlikely scenario, but anything is possible.
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[Wildthings]

A clutch will tend to slip in 4th gear because the engine is typically producing more torque in 4th gear and it is the torque that leads to the slip.

I would not want to run a clutch that had done much unintentional slipping.

Did you ask the mechanic if the step in the flywheel had been machined to the correct depth? This is something that is not required on many flywheels on other rigs and might get missed.

[danfromsyr]

the master nor the slave will cause slippage, even if air in the system,
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[Wildthings]

[Abscate]

We do tend to the esoterica diagnosia on Samba - i bet here someone fubarred a clutch job....
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.ssS!

[Wildthings]

[1988M5]

Persons (guys and girls) never put your head over a running motor with belts flapping. I have a friend that did and nearly died, the fan belt let loose and nearly killed him by jugular blood loss. Serious stuff. Keep that in mind.
In sorrow Brian

[1988M5]

I’m not trying to discourage you from working on your own rigs but be careful. A metal bake pan sheet can be a shield while doing some things like full RPM timing advance. Keep your head and neck safe. Keep this community awesome.
Brian

[E1]

Safety comments cannot be overdone, we've done thousands of days of potentially-lethal things (mountaineering, alpine backpacking, kart racing, flight attending) in our lives and have escaped serious injury by thinking "negatively," if you will.

Last time was the afternoon of August 29th. I said to the Missus for the umpteenth time, "I know you're sick of hearing this, but if we ever get into a rollover car accident, make sure to protect your head and neck like you taught to your passengers on the plane."

16 or so hours later, she protected her head and neck for the very reason we'd planned for.
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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[jacrider]

To to OP, happy to hear you are getting to resolution on your clutch.

To give you some comfort, the General Grabbers are good tires. My daughter just had to replace a set she ran for 120,000kms and would pass inspection, but winter is coming, so she replaced them. In my experience, that's pretty good useful life.

Enjoy the van, it is almost always a work in process.

[Microbusdeluxe]

Before your big trip get AAA premium with the 200 mile tow. One of these days you're going to need it.
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'69 Squareback RIP
'65 21 window deluxe sold before the price spike, damn it.
'70 rhd bay now a taxi in South Sudan
'81 Westy sold
'89 hightop Westy Joker syncro 16" now with Bostig!

[danfromsyr]

OK, I did miss the high pedal part..

the clutch rubber hose (on early models) could collapse internally like happens on brake flex lines, that would hold in pressure.

there are also 2 types of clutch slave pushrod, long and short but since this was fine after the new slave and then changed on it's own I wouldn't blame that.

[YosemiteBound]

Man you guys are scaring me. I really can’t pay for another clutch job. And I just paid for a new master cylinder that I probably don’t need
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1985 Westy Round Headlights "Liam"

[MarkWard]

Most quality independent shops should have some sort of warranty. That said, the shop is taking a double hit redoing a job. One they are fixing the comeback at their expense and at the same time can't take pay work while they are doing the warranty repair. Many parts suppliers warranty the parts they sell, but very few reimburse the shop for labor. It's just a bad situation all around for you and the shop. Keep that in mind.
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[benandmj]

This is a similar scenario to one I had. I am now of the camp that there is no cure for a slipping clutch that doesn't involve pulling the gear box. See my post here:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=694795&highlight=

I'll save you the time of reading through the thread. It was a main seal leaking on the clutch. I learned years ago to always replace the main seal when you are in there doing a clutch job. Probably not a bad idea to always replace the clutch TOB, PP and resurface or replace Flywheel when you are in there doing a main seal...
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85 Westfalia Weekender
91 Syncro Westy

[Sodo]