UK RHD 316 Clutch Master Cylinder

[alexandros075]

Hi All, Unfortunately, I noticed that my clutch pedal gets a bit wet when driving . I found a bit of rust on the firewall and managed to clean everything but I guess some damage has been done.

By reading a bit here, I can only imagine the clutch master cylinder is not sealing properly. Having a look online, I noticed how hard is to find a clutch master cylinder for a RHD car. Ideally I would like to swap it for a new rather than rebuilding it, but its looking fairly tricky to find one.

I found on TRW webpage, there are two models that are sold for my car PND111 and PND116 (This one is supposedly only for RHD cars, but is discontinued). My question is: have anyone in the UK or with a RHD 316 has managed to fit PND111? They look similar but the way the hardline connects to the master cylinder seems to be at a side rather than at the end. (Please see images below)

Here you can see some pictures of my car as you can see the hardline comes from the end of the clutch master:




Here is a picture of both parts that are recommended for my car:


Link for TRW webpage: https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/catal ... roupId=234

so yeah not sure what to do tbh, PND111 does not say it is for LHD/RHD or both. And PND116 is certainly for RHD but not supplied anymore. Is juts tempting to buy the whole thing as PND111 costs £42 and a full rebuild kit with piston, spring etc. costs about £36.

Hopefully someone from the UK or with a RHD car has gone through this situation?

Many thanks for your help with this.

Cheer
Alex

[Jeroen]

Even though connections are different, there is a chance the internals are interchageable. Then you'd better buy a rebuild kit and see if you can overhaul yours, that will only set you back a few quid. Autofren and the likes make these kits, see for instance https://www.autodoc.co.uk/

[mr edd]

i was given a 316 ten years ago and it had a lhd clutch master fitted ...it looked like the hard line had been bent at 90 degrees
just under the master cylinder to make it fit...

[alexandros075]

Thanks Jeroen and Edd. I saw that rebuild kit from autodoc, I thought if I had the chance to replace the whole unit might be a bit easier. Regarding the 90 degree bend LHD unit, I can see how that could work but I guess if you bend and kink one of those lines is game over. The rebuild kit looks tempting as it is cheap, but autodoc charges a lot of money on shipping I wish there where more options here in the UK.

How much of a PITA is it to bleed the clutch on this cars ?

[polov8]

I've got a LHD one on mine, and it was just a case of bending the pipe to fit it. It's been working fine since 2013.

[alexandros075]

I've got a LHD one on mine, and it was just a case of bending the pipe to fit it. It's been working fine since 2013.

That is Brilliant news thanks a lot for sharing that picture mate ! I'll get mine fix and stop that leak that is corroding my precious firewall !

[alexandros075]

Hi all Just as an update, I just picked the car from the garage. I ended up buying both Master cylinder (LHD) and slave to be safe (god knows when that was last changed and I didn't want to take the car back shortly after I swapped the master). At the beginning the garage was a bit reluctant to do this retro-fit, but after I showed them pictures they told me it was ok, so thanks Polo8v for the pics.

It's a bit dark so I couldn't take any pictures but I'll upload some later tomorrow. Hopefully they can help another E21 owner in a RHD country. Now I am happy that if the master fails again, I can easily source and replace it with a LHD.

I might rebuild the old one and keep it as a spare or sell it (last time I checked on Ebay they where asking £300 for a new one )

Thanks Jeroen and Polo8v for your help !

Now time to clean the carpet/firewall and enjoy for now!

[Jeroen]

Great news mate, you're welcome!

[polov8]

No problem! As an aside, I swapped the master on mine and a week later the slave died, so good call on swapping both at the same time!