I'm looking for confirmation of what i suspect after reading other threads.

i drove too and from work quite happily, a 75 mile round trip, non-motorway - it's a good fun route and plenty of changing gear and braking.

However when i got home, the problem happened.

i pulled in to my road, put the clutch in and stopped the car, popped it in reverse, only to find the bite point was at the very bottom of travel. i managed to park the car but with little travel on the clutch before biting.

i went out an hour later and the same problem existed.

The following day i checked the slave cylinder and it was dry, i pulled the boot back and it was dry. so i re-assembled and tried the clutch and everything was fine. i was just putting it in to first, pulling foward a few feet and stopping, in to reverse and back again. did this several times and put the car to bed. everything was back to normal.

i took the car out today, and clutch was fine until i got to the end of the road, the bite point was back at the bottom of travel. over the next 2 minutes of driving round the corner to a friend, i all but lost the clutch. i drove the car back without a clutch (mostly because i can). when i got home, a 3 oint turn was fun as pressing the clutch did nothing.

i parked up, left the engine running, popped the bonnet and got a neighbour to press the clutch down, the clutch arm was barely moving. fluid in the reservoir looks fine, not dropped since i checked it first time round.

Im thinking that the resounding solution is going to be 'CLUTCH SLAVE CYLINDER" (pictured)

The brakes feel good, however i do have abs.
Do the brakes and clutch come off the same reservoir? (indicated in picture)

Cheers guys.

The brakes and clutch do come off the same reservoir, except the reservoir is partitioned internally to ensure that a leak from one doesn't take both out.

Could be slave cylinder, but could also be master cylinder.

Open the bleed valve and have your friend press the clutch pedal to make sure the master cylinder is pumping fluid.

Cheers

SPD

Yes sounds like the master cylinder could be your problem. As the slave is completely dry it suggests that this is ok, but not 100%. I'm afraid in this situation it's just trial and error, but the slave is inexpensive and easy to fit, so if you shange that and it still is'nt right you won't have spent much time or money.

right, something new. went out to look at the car again, see if the clutch was back to normal, and found the clutch pedal was partly depressed, it hadn't been coming back up all the way. so i gave it a light pull, it returned to it's normal position easily, and the clutch feels fine now. went for a drive and everything is ok. if anything, the clutch feels a bit lighter than it was.

Master cylinder is now top of my list.

It could be seals giving up, or scores in the bore.

Cheers

SPD

Certainly looks like it would be the master cylinder to me as well. Your slave looks as if it is dry, especially if you peeled back the dust cover and it was dry in there too.

how big a job is the master cylinder?
as it's connected to the same reservoir as the brake master, do i have to take the brake, clutch and reservoir out, disassemble - re-assemble and re-install?
or can i get the clutch master out without disrupting the brake master and reservoir.
it looks like it's fairly seperate from this part photo.

Cheers guys

No you just disconnect the feed pipe from the resevoir (connects to white plastic bit in picture. You'll only loose fluid from the clutch half of the resevoir.

Remember to keep any brake/clutch fluid away from paintwork.

It will strip paint really quickly.

Cheers

SPD

ok your pedal should always return fully this is a common fault on bravos your clutch pedal return spring has broken if you look up in the pedal box you will see it, there about 6 quid from fiat

although on top of that it does sound like your clutch hydraulics are failing in some way from what you describe most likely a clutch master cylinder as the slave is dry although i would seriously recommend you look at replacing both and bleeding the system up again

you'll find the clutch much lighter and more precise to use and piece of mind if one fails the other wont be far behind

the slave is easy just a couple bolts on the box the master is again a couple of bolts and is fitted into a sleve in the pedal box although they can sometimes rust into place so may need a little persuasion to remove but shouldnt be too hard no majour disassembly will be needed for either job

i change my slave on a hlx a few weeks back without removing anything just articulating my hands under the battery tray in fact there is a hand sized hole in the battery tray under the battery that proved useful for bleeding if your struggling

edit: also looking at your picture of the clutch release arm the angle suggest your clutch is in good order if for example the clutch release bearing was colapsing (this happened to me) the arm would be parallel if not leaning towards the engine side yours is far towards the slave cylinder suggests you have a fairly recent clutch fitted

Yep, go with the Sultan
Dragging the pedal up gives you a full shot of fluid from the reservoir into the master cylinder, if it isn't fully up then the bite goes lower and lower

Especially if your clutch "feels lighter than it was" as there's not much that can create that apart from a heavy lub or a broken spring