CrashKrazz

I've recently acquired a 2000 A4 1.8T quattro. It had a dead slave cylinder when I got it, so it was replaced. A new(er) transmission was also installed with a new clutch before I got it. I have very little other information on the history of the car... Clutch seemed to work great after replacement (Man does that thing suck to get in). Now, I did make the mistake of trying to be clever and bleed it before inserting it into the trans so that I could move it around, try to get more air out and get a better bleed knowing these systems can be tricky. This made it nearly impossible to get the thing in, so I had to open up the bleeder to do so. I then bled it again once installed, using a vacuum bleeder pump on the slave bleed screw. This seemed to work well at first and all was good. I've put about 800 miles on it now since I got it fully running, and the clutch started acting up on me. It occasionally returns only about 80% of the way up the travel. I usually first notice it after sitting at a light on the clutch. It bites much earlier in the throw, then does not return all the way. If I pull it up with my foot, it returns to normal for some time. I did try bleeding it again, this time with a helper on the pedal, classic brake bleed style, but the problem persists.

I can tell the problem must be in the hydraulics. Any advice on where to start looking before I start throwing a new master or other parts at it?

CrashKrazz

For the record, I ended up replacing the master cylinder and all seems well. Once I got the dash cover off and could really see it and pull back the boot, it was leaking a bit. Not the most fun job (those lines through the firewall sucked big time), but all in all it wasn't too hard.