Jplabarre

I'm new to posting on the forums, but have read (and learned) a lot from them in the past. I know many have posted of this problem before, but none of the other suggestions have worked. Since I am new and don't know all the rules, I apologize if I'm not doing this right. It's a 2008 X with no mechanical upgrades.

Here's what happened...

Husband had been driving it regularly and complained it was hard to get into 1st and then 2nd and then one day he couldn't get it to go anywhere in any gear. Managed to limp it home in 3rd (don't ask me how). After testing out a few things, we decided to go ahead and replace the clutch. This is the 2nd time we've replaced it. First time we took it to a shop (only 20K miles ago), this time we thought we'd do it ourselves.

Did both the master and slave cylinders at the same time. Had a soft pedal and ended up re-bleeding the system repeatedly until it finally started to feel semi-normal again. Still soft, but thought there might be some break in time. Had no issues for a couple of weeks.

I get a phone call from my husband after work saying he's stuck. Can't get it into any gear unless the car is off and he can't get it to start in any gear. Not the same symptoms as before. I managed to get it to start in 2nd and slowly limped it home again.

First thought? Hydraulics. Pedal still felt soft to me, so I figured we had some air in the lines somewhere which is making it hard to engage the clutch. Bled it a few times, no luck. Checked both master and slave. Looked like the slave may have somehow unseated from it's slot, but not damaged at all. No leaks. Pulled it out, bleed it while not connected and put it back in.

No luck. Pedal felt super soft and I got no engagement. I bleed it many times, pedal got better but still no engagement. Can't start in gear at all and can't enter any gears when on. Clutch still shifts freely when the car is off.

Got a new slave, went through the bleeding process and still the same issues. Spoke to a mechanic about it and he suggested bleeding from the top using a vacuum. Did that today. Pedal feels soooo much better. BUT I still can't change gears. I CAN, however, start it in 1st, 2nd and 3rd with the pedal pushed all the way to the floor.

I'm at a complete loss on this one. One other forum spoke of the pressure plate not being connected properly. That means taking the whole thing apart again. I figured I'd reach out before taking that route. Anybody have any other suggestions? Ideas? Everything points to hydraulics for the clutch, but I'm starting to feel like it can't be.

tjkamp

Not sure if it is your issue, but the slave can be super hard to bleed. Both times I've replaced mine it took about 4.5 - 5 hours worth of bleeding to get all the air out, first time just using the old school pump and bleed method, the second time I used a vacuum pump. Either way it took for ever to get it to function properly.

If your system is not properly sealed, you will never be able to get all the air out.

There are many people on here far more knowledgeable than I, hopefully someone will have some suggestions, otherwise I would say keep looking for leaks and bleeding it.

Jplabarre

Thanks for the response. My mechanic is scheduled 2 weeks out. I'm gonna keep trying to bleed it and may try pulling it apart again. I can't just do nothing for 2 weeks.