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[SRR]

Good Mornin" Y'all. I have some updated and corrected information.

After doing some more looking, I have multiple problems. Since the engine will sometimes spin up if I nail the throttle at cruise, the clutch has to be slipping but that's not the most immediate of issues. I want to start fixing from the top.

First thing I notice is I have nearly 2½" of free play in the pedal before I hit any resistance. The little black bushing at the connection of the linkage and the master cylinder rod is shot but that wouldn't account for that much free play. Would this amount of free play be caused by other linkage components under the dash or a faulty master cylinder? None of my books say anything about working on the mechanical linkage assembly.

The second thing has to be hydraulic.

The master is still full to the step so I can't have a leak but here's what it does. When I push the pedal to take up the free play, I can hold a steady but relatively light pressure on the pedal with my thumb and the pedal will slowly sink to the floor. At any point in the pedal fall I can release pressure and the pedal will stick. The only way to get it back up is manually pull it back up.

In retrospect, what I wrote above "When idling in neutral it will sometimes pull the clutch pedal to the floor requiring a kick to get it back up", isn't true. I think that symptom always required me to catch the pedal edge with my foot and pull it back up.

When I push the pedal with force as I would when disengaging the clutch, the resistance feels normal and the pedal returns to the stop upon release. If, however, I hold the pedal down, it sticks to the floor quickly. At four seconds I can feel it giving up it's last bit of resistance and it sticks. If I hold it a lesser period of time, it comes back up partially.

Is this most likely air in the system or a bad master or a bad slave or all of the above?

Thanks again,
Don