? clutch pedal no resistance - only change gear when motor off & sometimes when rolling.

[jpaul]

could be a survey - 3'er e46 manual whats's broken ?

symptoms :
clutch pedal has no resistance,
can only reliably select gear when motor off - so had to pull away by engaging 1st/2nd and moving immediately once starter motor engaged.
could sometimes change gear once rolling (trying to be gentle when car not under load) but was sometimes finding neutral, and unable to find a gear.
just drove 20miles odd miles back from Cambridge to my favourite garage/mechanic, rather than home, to avoid a AA recovery scenario,
mostly roundabouts thankfully, so had to anticipate them and keep in 5th/rolling.
car would stall in the situations I had to stop, since it was still in gear.

Options
1. Clutch cable
2. clutch itself - pretty sure is not worn, but I don't understand symptoms of release bearings/spring failure
3. Hydraulic systems that they maybed involved
....

 

[jpaul]

Thanks folks -( as you say no clutch cable just a master & slave cylinder from watching a video )

neither cylinder has ever been changed, and, as you say looks easier to change if slave is responsible;

kinda glad I drove to the garage, as doing this on the driveway (must empty garage) in winter doesn't look fun - & lift, always helps.

If the fluid were leaking, guess I don't understand how the brakes might not get impacted if the fluid level dropped,but, probably needs to loose a lot.

 

[jpaul]

yes I'didn't even think of pumping pedal - was concerned about breaking gear stick linkage, after finding box of neutrals.

But fear not, dear friend, for answers will come,In the land of Cambridge, under the sun

I've probably discovered an advantage of Cambridge - it's the flatlands (not quite where sissy spacek lived) so no hill starts required,
they would have meant a rolling start based on force of starter motor is impossible, or, just travelling backwards.

 

[jpaul]

FWIW it's worth changing both the slave/master,

yes I probably would do, doing it myself ... the man hours for the master look, from video as though they would be significant - taking apart the footwell;

whether failure on these is also indicative of brake cylinders state too ....
albeit learning above that it is a separate hydraulic system I wonder if hydroscopic clutch fluid had ever been replaced - I'm clearly non-curious, that I had never seen/inspected that reservoir.

 

[jpaul]

I think you're getting confused with replacing the servo with the master cylinder,

I sorta meant if the clutch slave/master were going , presumably because of corrosion or failing seals, whether brake master would soon follow it ?
however if their reservoirs were different as I wrongly inferred V perhaps the clutch cylinder always failed sooner due to contribution of older/unbled fluid ie. bad maintenance,

even though I see they share same reservoir, I don't know if on previous brake fluid changes they did bleed clutch to force through new fluid - is that normal practise ?
[

Different hydraulic system to the brakes.

]

..
my great mechanic just rang me to say it is the slave - which he's done - and he doesn't normally expect master to follow suit.