Slave Cylinder Install

[Stinky]

I barely got home yesterday.  The clutch started acting funny.  I stopped and checked the fluid...dry.  The pedal came back for a bit, and then went dead.  I determined that the slave cylinder was leaking like crazy/

 

It took just a few minutes and the new one was on.  But, it was a beastie to bleed.  I finally got it to spit....barely.  Then went to the Master Cylinder....nothing there, then to the aluminum thing on the firewall, above the slave cylinder (BTW, what is it?).  I bled it at the bleed port, and then at the lines...nothing.  BTW, I noticed that the bleed ports are poorly designed.  The should be on top, and they are on the bottom.

 

Then, I went back down and started pushing the piston back in w/the bleeder open.  Once I started doing that, I finally got the piston to move and moved forward faster.  I drove her tonight and the clutch works fine again....but she did NOT want to be bled and fought it all the way, I used almost a whole bottle getting home and then bleeding it.

[datzenmike]

It's called a clutch damper. There's a small 'puck' of rubber inside that gets squished by the pressure. Only used on the later Z24 trucks... which have the larger 240mm pressure plate. I can only surmise that it makes engagement a little smoother??? easier to control?? Some have removed or run a line around it.