Had to happen again someday: clutch master cylinder went out on my 1988 B2200

844 Views 15 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Cussboy, 1 mo ago

Cussboy

Well, today in routine "check oil, check fluids" on my 1988 B2200, noticed that the level of fluid in the clutch master cylinder level was way low, below the lower line. I hadn't experienced any clutch issues, check everything for external leaks and saw none, even pulled back the slave cylinder boot to check for leakage there. So I suspected the rear seal of the clutch master, leaking into the truck. Yep. I had a RockAuto closeout clutch master on-hand, so installed that after bench-bleeding it. The recess on each was 21.5mm deep, so no clutch pushrod adjustment was necessary. Now someday I get to see if Advance Auto will honor the lifetime warranty on both clutch cylinders; I have cores, last time I changed out either was in 2008.

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Cussboy

Discussion Starter · #4 · 2 mo ago

Bobmo said:
Good to find an easy solution.
Thanks for the pics and I look forward to hearing the drama of the return policy.

Might happen next Friday. If the clerk's name tag states "Colin Kaepernick", I think I'll go to a different location.

If Advance doesn't handle a replacement, I'll just use Rock, Amazon, or O'Reilly, pretty sure most of the "brands" are same part in a different box. In the small town there is an O'Reilly, and I can get stuff next day or sooner from Phoenix warehouse.

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Cussboy

Discussion Starter · #5 · 2 mo ago

Wow.

Advance Auto locations are not convenient to me (I'd dealt with CarQuest store 2 miles away before that closed down, and Advance took over CarQuest). On Tuesday and Friday mornings I'm like 5 miles away from an Advance store though, but the traffic congestion in that area is utterly horrible, like designed by the dummmmest of the Three Stooges. Tuesday, I made my second visit to that store, and they had not done anything following my first visit; guy told me Tuesday that both clutch master and clutch slave would be in-store for me by Friday morning.

So Friday after softball I made 3rd visit to Advance; they DID swap out the clutch master but couldn't locate the clutch slave cylinder, even though the computer said the part had been delivered to the store. Counter guy said driver would be picking up that slave cylinder at another store less convenient to me to deliver to the store, and I asked if that driver could simply drop that off at my house (NO). Counter guy said he'd call or text me once the part actually arrived in his store Friday, but that never happened.

Now, if this had been local O'Reilly (1.5 miles away from me), I would've had new parts at store SAME DAY. So I'll check once more at Advance next Tuesday, but think I'm DONE WITH ADVANCE. In my 3 trips there I've spent approximately 75 minutes waiting around while they tried to do stuff. It's just not worth the hassle !!!

But at least I have the clutch master in-hand now .....

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Cussboy

Discussion Starter · #9 · 2 mo ago

Axel Breaker Earl said:
Exactly why I deal with RockAuto.com! And I just make sure that I have plenty of parts on hand, or rather in my Garage, so that I know I can install them on MY schedule. It also helps to have a couple of these trucks, tagged & insured, so if one is out of commission, I can just jump in the other one......or two!

My B2200 is running, I'm using closeout clutch master and slave cylinders purchased from Rock years ago. Because of my experiences with B2200 clutch hydraulics I decided to carry along spares for these, and those will be my replacements from Advance. Right now I have the replacement MC and a close-out slave cylinder as spares.

Also I had purchased a water pump from CarQuest/Advance with a lifetime warranty, but think I'll be done with Advance, just too much hassle...

Funny, the clutch hydraulics on my 1998 Nissan Frontier lasted over 265K, never flushed the system until I installed new MC and SC into it. My 2004 Frontier is still on its factory MC and slave cylinder, and the system has jever been flushed; on both of these Frontiers the brake master, calipers, and rear wheel cylinders are factory, and have never been flushed.

I always flush a hydraulic system completely after a hydraulic repair. The B2200 has been through several brake master cylinders and at least one replacement of its calipers and rear brake cylinders.

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Cussboy

Discussion Starter · #10 · 1 mo ago

Cussboy said:
Wow.

Advance Auto locations are not convenient to me (I'd dealt with CarQuest store 2 miles away before that closed down, and Advance took over CarQuest). On Tuesday and Friday mornings I'm like 5 miles away from an Advance store though, but the traffic congestion in that area is utterly horrible, like designed by the dummmmest of the Three Stooges. Tuesday, I made my second visit to that store, and they had not done anything following my first visit; guy told me Tuesday that both clutch master and clutch slave would be in-store for me by Friday morning.

Now, if this had been local O'Reilly (1.5 miles away from me), I would've had new parts at store SAME DAY. So I'll check once more at Advance next Tuesday, but think I'm DONE WITH ADVANCE. In my 3 trips there I've spent approximately 75 minutes waiting around while they tried to do stuff. It's just not worth the hassle !!!

But at least I have the clutch master in-hand now .....

And on my 4th trip to Advance I picked up the replacement clutch slave cylinder. But I'm through with Advance !!!

Of course, now I "get to" deal with a lifetime warranty Hayden fan clutch for my B2200, could tell my AC was variable, and fan clutch failed the "rolled up newspaper section" test. In the 1990s, I bought a lifetime warranty Hayden fan clutch through local Pep Boys store, and they replaced that under warranty a couple of times since then. Now my fan clutch is malfunctioning again; I have the receipts but Pep Boys no longer has stores here in Arizona. I contacted Pep Boys corporate, and their reply was that a certain store in El Paso Texas could replace it if I took it there; well, THAT is not going to happen.

So I did contact Hayden directly by E-mail (no customer service phone), we'll see what happens there - if anything. A Hayden fan clutch through Rock is $49 ($12 of that shipping) but not lifetime warranty. So likely I'll be going to O'Reilly for that, lifetime warranty unit for $63, available same-day. I have O'Reilly fan clutches on my 1998 and 2004 Frontier, and they've been OK. The B2200 fan clutch is specific to that vehicle only, can't be more than 3 factories in the world making fan clutches for rare trucks, have believed for years that same parts (like the clutch hydraulics) are simply rebranded in different company boxes.

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Cussboy

Discussion Starter · #12 · 1 mo ago

texstarranger said:
I also have an 88 B2200. I had to replace the clutch slave cylinder at under 100,000 miles and the master cylinder at 165,000.

I've had my 1988 since 1994; I've likely replaced the clutch master and clutch slave at least 5 times, flushing the system each time. I've replaced the brake master a couple of times.

My 1998 and 2004 frontiers (271K and 108K) are still on factory brake fluid and hydraulics and the 2004 on factory clutch fluid and hydraulics. I have swapped out the clutch master , clutch slave, and fluid on the 1998 a few years ago because pedal "felt funny".

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Cussboy

Discussion Starter · #14 · 1 mo ago

texstarranger said:
Does your 88 B2200 have its original wiper motor? Mine appears to need replacing (sluggish and tends to bind up) but I'm having trouble finding a new or rebuilt one.

Yes, my 1988 B2200 still has the factory wiper motor. However, note that I'm in Arizona and that wiper motor has not gotten a ton of use, as rain is pretty scarce here.

I'd contact that William Saunders in Tennesee, he has a lot of B-truck parts. I looked up the price at a U-Pick parts yard somewhat near me, and they charge $25 for a wiper motor (right now they list exactly one B-truck, a 1991; B-trucks either on the road or in parts yards are scare here, Mazda dealerships were very weak then, and working AC is a must). I don't know how tough wiper motor is to R&R though.

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Cussboy

Discussion Starter · #15 · 1 mo ago

Cussboy said:
Of course, now I "get to" deal with a lifetime warranty Hayden fan clutch for my B2200, could tell my AC was variable, and fan clutch failed the "rolled up newspaper section" test. In the 1990s, I bought a lifetime warranty Hayden fan clutch through local Pep Boys store, and they replaced that under warranty a couple of times since then. Now my fan clutch is malfunctioning again; I have the receipts but Pep Boys no longer has stores here in Arizona. I contacted Pep Boys corporate, and their reply was that a certain store in El Paso Texas could replace it if I took it there; well, THAT is not going to happen.

So I did contact Hayden directly by E-mail (no customer service phone), we'll see what happens there - if anything. A Hayden fan clutch through Rock is $49 ($12 of that shipping) but not lifetime warranty. So likely I'll be going to O'Reilly for that, lifetime warranty unit for $63, available same-day. I have O'Reilly fan clutches on my 1998 and 2004 Frontier, and they've been OK. The B2200 fan clutch is specific to that vehicle only, can't be more than 3 factories in the world making fan clutches for rare trucks, have believed for years that same parts (like the clutch hydraulics) are simply rebranded in different company boxes.

I picked up the new fan clutch Sunday from O'Reilly, #2562 lifetime unit. I installed that this morning, and am going to brag that I did NOT drop any of the nuts holding the fan/fan clutch to the pulley, so I never had to go underneath to fetch anything ! This O'Reilly unit states "made in Mexico", the old fan clutch stated "made in USA".

Of course I have not heard a word from Hayden corporate....

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Cussboy

Discussion Starter · #16 · 1 mo ago

Cussboy said:
Of course, now I "get to" deal with a lifetime warranty Hayden fan clutch for my B2200

So I did contact Hayden directly by E-mail (no customer service phone), we'll see what happens there - if anything.

Cussboy said:
Of course I have not heard a word from Hayden corporate....

Still not a word from Hayden corporate, %#$%^&$#@!$^%&&@!!^&^* current American customer service, ghosting me !!! So I'm officially bad-mouthing Hayden from now on !!!!

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