So my slave cylinder/accumulator were going bad. I ordered the parts, picked a few brains, and figured "piece of cake". Boy what I didn't know...

I have a lift. It shoulda been easy. It shoulda cost me the total sum of the parts and a can of Pentosin. About $410 total for all including shipping...

One thing I was "hipped to" by my buddy Kevin at UMW is to loosen and lower the front of the tranny so I could get to everything easier. That helped big time... Saved me from having to remove the starter and the axle.

I'd decided I was going to knock this out in several evenings, an hour here, an hour there... Well that plan worked great... Right up until the point where I installed the slave... One of the guys (Mike from Austrailia) had told me on the phone that it took him two hours to get the thing lined up properly. I had mine in in less than 15 minutes... And then I made that major, and costly mistake of not reading FURTHER into the instructions... I used my air ratched and tightened the two bolts holding the slave in place... Tightened them but good... Uhhuh... There in was the error... I next moved to the hard line at the back of the slave, that runs up to the power steering... Damn, thing won't move... I'll use a little "love" and force it into the hole, no problem... Looks like it's lining up straight... Threads in just fine... Wait... Oh...is that straight? Hhmmm Looks straight... Is it? Lets move it some more... Uhhuh... feels pretty tight... Yup... "I know, LETS PUT A WRENCH ON IT"...

I've been wrenching cars for more than 30 years if you include the time served as my father's lackey. I'm 42. I know better... I have no clue where my head was, but I suspect it was a dark, smelly place between my cheeks.

So, lets review... Don't tighten the slave cylinder down tight. Let it have some slack to move around enough so you can manipulate it and align the threads of that hardline and fitting. Make damned sure you do this or it will cost you the price of the hardline, and another slave to get it right...

I told my wife today that this car is very well engineered. It's the idiots behind the wrench that often undo everything Ferdinand has done well...

Mike

 

Sorry to hear that! I shouldn't have to worry since I'm one of those idiots that doesn't know the different between jack or wrench. I admire those that can work on the 996TT themselves.

 

Mike,

Bummer to hear. So how long did it take the second time

 

great info, i will be changing mine very soon

 

I want to thank SuncoastSteve for getting the parts out to me quickly.. I'll have them here on Saturday... Takes about 2 hours to do this when you know how to do it right, although I haven't bled the system yet, and imagine it'll be a *****.

Mike

 

Car's still on the lift and the parts will be here Saturday. I'll finish it up then...

Mike

 

Cheer up dude, I missed that cute little dimple twice while putting my salve back in after a rms install. We all learn as we go and remember anyone who has succeeded has failed , and anyone who hasn't failed hasn't succeeded.

 

Ugh. Very sorry to hear about that, Mike.

 

Mike,

Great story. Takes a big man to admit when he's screwed something up... good for you.

I bet all of us that have been wrenching for 30+ years (I'm 47) have a similar story.

I once put brake pads on backwards on my wife's audi. Yep, metal on metal... didn't stop so good either.

 

Thanks guys!

Mike

 

I have had a handful of encounters with slave cylinders...

 

I wouldn't have even thought of trying that Mike. Sorry it didn't go well the first time but at least it wasn't something worse. You'll be back enjoying her on the track soon and this will be behind you.

 

Markski,

That is (I guess you have to have been there to get it).

JB

 

Respect to you guys who work on these cars on your own as they seem intimidating underneath. I recently took my car in to the dealership for an oil change....felt like a chump.

 

Mike, As we discussed on the phone. I spent 2 hours just getting the S-C into position. Installing my UMW LWFW/clutch was straight forward...but the S-C was an absolute nightmare. My next project is fitting my UMW supplied brake upgrade, hopefully this will be less stressful.