Clutch pedal issue gated 6 sp F430

Has your car been sitting for a while? I let mine sit for about 2 months a year ago. I got in and the clutch went to the floor. I pumped it a few times but could not get clutch to engage. Went and did some errands and left a message for my service guy. I came back an hour later and tried pedal again. It now felt about one inch of engagement. My service guy said to pump the pedal like crazy. I did for a few minutes and then it engaged enough to shift into reverse. We decided the seal had dried out and pumping pedal got it to swell up and work.

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Three areas to check are the block, slave cylinder, and master cylinder.

 

The Ferrari bleeder block is a terrible design. It’s aluminium, and as the bleed nipple is tightened, it causes cracking in the block. There’s a redesigned version from Hill that is a touch more awkward to use, but doesn’t suffer the same failure mode.

You tend to see cracking where the raised section projects out of the main part of the block. See below my crude markup:

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Of course you could have a fluid leak anywhere in the system, but this is an obvious and easy place to check.

Dry seals is possible I think, but be worth giving the system a bleed after in case the dry seals have met any air in.


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What happens is the tech over cranks/overtightens the bleeder valve and it cracks the block. When I had my clutch replaced the tech over tightened my HILL bleeder block and it cracked. Brake fluid then leaked out and pedal went soft. I replaced it temporarily with my old OEM block and it works perfect. It's a cheap repair and can be done in an hour. Hint: just a wind or two of plumbers tape seals it better IMHO without having to so overtighten the bleed screw. Note not too many winds of plumbers tape.. just a couple or so to help it seal. Too many winds can also crack the block as the bleed screw with over-stress the block.

 

vrsurgeon. Too lazy to look for the valve, where is it?

 

Lower r/h side of g.box. Quite close to the oil filter if memory serves.

 

I wouldn't be using PTFE tape on one of these. Its a metal to metal seal that occurs at the tip of the bleed nipple, and not along the thread. You're absolutely right that avoiding over tightening is the key.

It might not have been Hill that I got an improved version from- I'm sure the one I got was steel rather than Aluminium, and I see on the Hill website that their versions are both aluminium.

 

Oh I’ll keep using it. You have to crank down on the bleed nipple to seal it via the metal and I suspect that is why so many oem bleed blocks “fail” because so many overtighten to get the metal to seal. And yes the hill will crack too. That and the fittings will Annoyingly round out... no problems with it in 6 years+

 

One thing I've learned from playing with hydraulics and sealing connections is to always carefully examine both sides for any dirt, nicks, scratches, or burrs and polish them out before connecting. If all the parts are clean, smooth, and shiny, then they take much less torque to seal than one that isn't.

 

If it’s been working for you for years, then there’s clearly no reason to remove the Teflon tape. It is a bodge though; it’s a metal seated joint, and if clean and properly ground, they need very little seating pressure to work. If you’re struggling to get a good deal at low torque, then just work the joint a little to lap the surfaces together.

On the other hand, you’re messing with something that isn’t safety critical, so it doesn’t really matter. You have the same joints on your brake callipers, and it would be a different matter if you were using thread tape on those bleed nipples.


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Oh they did that too on the main line coming in from the master cylinder (it was the line going to the clutch that the block split). And it was so tight that some of the nipple rounded when I tried to remove it with a crow foot wrench. As you know.. that line is NLA. So.. I removed the block and the line entirely and had to cut into the Hill bleed block and separate it to even remove the line that was "overtightened" if you will. With a couple winds of tape it seated and sealed with much less effort on the OEM bleed block.

The problem is the seating of the nipple in the block. When you change it out, of if it is removed and seats different the metal won't seal together the same way and you have to apply too much torque to seat it... and the block cracks ultimately. The solution is to smoothen it out (is that a bodge maneuver? ) or use new lines with the new block. I discovered that my mechanic overtightened the nipples and they will crack even the Hill block.

Nobody has to repair it this way. It's the way I did it and it works.

 

Using different metals is a good idea, not a bad one. Similar metals will tend to gall, which will invariably cause you issues.

There could be another issue at play- maybe the sealing face isn't cut at the correct angle. Dunno. I suspect there is a fairly narrow window of tightening where you've got enough torque so that the nipple doesn't unwind due to the high vibration being attached directly to the gearbox, and too much so that the fairly narrow section of the bleed block with its sharp stress raisers isn't over stressed. Compared with a brake caliper, the bleed block will be much less stiff.

This type of issue is very much within the realm of my professional expertise, but hey, its free advice, so do with it what you want. I'm not precious.