# Replacing Clutch Master Cylinder



## anmejia (Jun 4, 2019)

Hello,

I have a 2016 Gen 2 and the clutch was sitting flat on the floor, the dealership replaced the slave cylinder and it worked for about 2 months and then it happened again.
Car is again at the shop and now they tell me its the master cylinder, it comes to just over $1000 to replace it, I understand dealership price will be higher than any other mechanic, but its just a lot more than I was hoping for it to be.

Is the process complex enough to where its better to pay, or can I do it myself. I watched videos of other cars where the master is easily accessible and its changed in less than an hour, but then I see a diagram that the cylinder is under the transmission.

Thank you in advance


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

The clutch master cylinder is inside the car, but you have to remove the brake master cylinder and booster, the steering column and all of the pedals to replace it.

Assuming $100/hr labor rate Id say anywhere near $750labor is probably fair.

At that same $100/hr I wouldn't let anyone who offers to do it for less than $500 touch it(5hrs labor). They either don't know what they are getting into, or are potentially a hack. Yes they could be altruistic and doing it to help you...But unlikely.

The car will have it's wipers, the wiper cowl, the metal at the base of the windshield, the coolant reservoir, master cylinder and brake booster, all 3 pedal assemblies, the steering g column, steering wheel, driver knee airbag and various bits of trim, and a dozen or more important electrical connections undone when performing this repair. There's also several clips and bolts that need to be replaced in addition to the failed part.

$1000 could be a tad high of their labor rate is under $115 or so, but the higher the rate is the better a deal it is. In my area you could easily pay $1100 or more just in a reasonable labor time, parts obviously riase the price...Maybe another $200 for everything (I don't know how much all the clips and bolts actually cost.)

It's not a fun driveway project.


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## anmejia (Jun 4, 2019)

Ma v e n said:


> The clutch master cylinder is inside the car, but you have to remove the brake master cylinder and booster, the steering column and all of the pedals to replace it.
> 
> Assuming $100/hr labor rate Id say anywhere near $750labor is probably fair.
> 
> ...


Wow, that's actually a lot of work going into it, thank you for all the info, the price already includes the parts so I feel a little better knowing the rest of the picture.


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## Cruzin for a bruzzin (Sep 28, 2021)

Ma v e n said:


> The clutch master cylinder is inside the car, but you have to remove the brake master cylinder and booster, the steering column and all of the pedals to replace it.
> 
> Assuming $100/hr labor rate Id say anywhere near $750labor is probably fair.
> 
> ...





Ma v e n said:


> The clutch master cylinder is inside the car, but you have to remove the brake master cylinder and booster, the steering column and all of the pedals to replace it.
> 
> Assuming $100/hr labor rate Id say anywhere near $750labor is probably fair.
> 
> ...





I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE YOU GOT THAT INFO FROM AT ALL. I JUST REPLACED MINE IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES, BLED AND DRIVING. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REMOVE THE BRAKE BOOSTER, MASTER CYLINDER, REPLACE NUTS AND BOLTS, STEERING COLUM, PEDALS ETC. YOU GAVE OUT THE WRONG INFO. SIMPLY DUCK UNDER YOU DASH REMOVE THE PLASTIC CLIP THAT ATTACHES TO THE PEDAL, THE TWO NUTS HOLDING THE MASTER, DISCONNECT THE LINES AND POP IN YOUR NEW ONE, BLEED AND BE IN YOUR WAY. SIMPLE TASK THAT WAS DONE IN MY DRIVEWAY BEFORE WORK. If any mechanic takes longer then 45 minutes, you need a new mechanic, I would have charged 100 bucks for the intstall, anymore I wouldnt feel good about ripping someone off.


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## Mycruzereallysucks (Jan 4, 2022)

Cruzin for a bruzzin said:


> I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE YOU GOT THAT INFO FROM AT ALL. I JUST REPLACED MINE IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES, BLED AND DRIVING. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REMOVE THE BRAKE BOOSTER, MASTER CYLINDER, REPLACE NUTS AND BOLTS, STEERING COLUM, PEDALS ETC. YOU GAVE OUT THE WRONG INFO. SIMPLY DUCK UNDER YOU DASH REMOVE THE PLASTIC CLIP THAT ATTACHES TO THE PEDAL, THE TWO NUTS HOLDING THE MASTER, DISCONNECT THE LINES AND POP IN YOUR NEW ONE, BLEED AND BE IN YOUR WAY. SIMPLE TASK THAT WAS DONE IN MY DRIVEWAY BEFORE WORK. If any mechanic takes longer then 45 minutes, you need a new mechanic, I would have charged 100 bucks for the intstall, anymore I wouldnt feel good about ripping someone off.


Hi cruzin im having the clutch master issue now and i need to replace the master on my gen2 i looked under the dash and seen the clip on the pedal but not 2 bolts are the 2 bolts in the engine bay behind the coolant resivor? Does the master come through the engine bay or inside the cab? A few more details would be appreciated. thank you.


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## Embarrassmental (6 mo ago)

Hey mycruzereallysucks. I'm in the process of doing the job now on my diesel 6 spd because that's what the dealership diagnosed it as. (At this point I think they were wrong but thats a different story. Lol) It comes out with the pedal assembly through the cab. Heres a generic write up of the job.

-----READ FULLY PLEASE BEFORE STARTING THE JOB. THIS JOB IS WRITTEN AS A GEN2 DIESEL. NOT GEN2 GASSER. Procedure should be similar if not exact same-----

Here is a link to another thread about a similar issue Slave cylinder needed? 
Look for the post about the TSB 
If I video this, I will add the video here.

----Disconnect these electrical componets in roughly this order..

-Battery negative cable (diesels are in the trunk. Idk about gassers.)
-Brake/clutch dot3 reservoir level sensor
-ABS module (may not need to do this. One job I had to do it, one I did not. Just depends how small your hands are and how flexible your cowl plastics are)

-Accelerator pedal
-Brake pedal position switch
-Clutch pedal position switch
These can be done when pulling out the clutch assembly I believe, but i unplugged everything first because that's just how I am. I am paranoid about pulling a plug apart. Lol)

-Push button/ignition switch
-Headlight switch (these last two I did when I was removing trim and plastic pieces. Don't remeber if you can do this before you remove plastics.)


----Under hood remove these components partially by putting them to the side in about this order

-ECU clipped on Bracket and small wire clips (this allows room for coolant resevoir and brake booster to slide out. Just sit ecu slightly lower onto transmission)
-coolant reservoir (unclips and pulls back over the valve cover/engine plastics with hoses still attached. This allows room for brake booster and brake reservoir)
-brake reservoir/brake master cylinder (this is the two large nuts ran over the studs connected to the brake booster. You will also need to disconnect the two feed lines that run into the ABS pump at the pump side and also the _-gray plastic clutch master cylinder feed line-_. They are part braided and part metal. Carefully tuck them and zip tie the ends sightly above the neck of the brake reservoir so you don't lose alot of fluid. *-Avoid fluid loss to make the bleed process easier later-*)
-ABS pump and module assembly (this one is tricky and may be doable for you without unhooking any more lines. This part has 4 lines going into the top of it and a large plug to the side of it that uses a lever to unplug. The first time I did this job I completely removed it to get the booster out. The second time I did not. I removed the top ABS pump bracket bolt, you can wiggle it around and slide it out of it's two lower bushings enough to tilt it and get to the lines at the clutch master cylinder.)
-brake booster (it has gone vacuum line attached that just pulls out. This uses two long bolts threaded inside the studs that held the brake master cylinder on to secure it to the firewall. The rod running through it connects into a clip on the back of the brake pedal. First time I removed it completely. The second time I just sat it lower onto the car so there was enough room to pop the rod out of the brake pedal.)
-3 firewall 13mm nuts attached to outside of the pedal assembly (other 4 pedal assembly bolts are in the cab beside the steering wheel assembly)
-clutch master cylinder lower and upper hoses (bottom 'to the slave cylinder' is held by a retaining clip that needs to be pulled up with a pick or flat head enough to slide said line out. _-Top gray 'to reservoir' line just pulls off with slight force-_.)

----inside cab removed these components only as much as necessary

-all driver's side plastics/trim panels below the steering wheel (I had to removed mine from the door to the steering column, then from the center console to the steering column. Be very careful doing this step because it is a cluster of pull/pop clips and 7mm bolts. Rule of thumb for me was that if it was a visible piece from the driving position, it was probably clipped. If it wasn't visible, it probably had hidden bolts. Headlight switch panel and push button panels popped off I think. Kick panel, feet airbag panel, and knee/steering column surround panels all had hidden screws. This process took awhile while I lightly tugged at pieces and removed them without breaking any plastic)
-feet airbag with bracket (It is secured by 2 10mm nuts. I did not unplug, but instead, just sat it to the side because airbags scare me. Haha.)
-4 cabin 13mm bolts holding on the pedal assembly
-steering column center shaft held in place with 2 11mm bolts. This piece only fits one way so pay attention to the bolts and position when removing. (BEFORE REMOVING THIS!! center the steering wheel and lock it centered -- There is a plastic cap on the top of the steering column. It unclips by pulling upward. Underneath is a hole. If you lay under the column, you can see the passthrough beside the 7mm bolt in the lower column plastic. I used a long allen wrench to secure it centered. I slid the allen key in from the bottom and used a small vise grip to hold it from falling back through the hole. Use something sturdy enough to hold it while it moves around but not so sturdy that you can't wiggle it around to maneuver around it to get the steering column mounting bolts. The center shaft is a collapsible shaft that cannot be positioned wrong when putting back on. Some of these cars have steering sensors and if you get this off it can cause the vehicle to need a sensor reprogramming and your steering wheel may not have full motion or be off centered when driving)
-steering column and steering wheel assembly (there is 4 13 mm nuts that hold the entire steering wheel and its switches to the chassis. Two just beside where the steering center shaft mounted, and two almost straight above where the airbag mounted. I removed these with 13mm swivel socket. Good luck with these 4 nuts)

After the steering wheel assembly comes loose (it may fall on your head if you arent careful) you can sit it with the steering wheel facing the roof, up against the center console/infotainment area. There are still wires attached for the signal switch and steering controls. I didn't have to unhook these, just be careful not too pull them and break them.
With the column to the side, the pedal assembly drops into the floorboard with all 3 pedals attached to it. Remove it from the vehicle and unclip the clutch master cylinder from behind the clutch pedal (this clip is a bitch.) Then twist the clutch master cylinder a 1/4 turn to slide it out of the firewall side of pedal assembly. It must be removed this way because the pedal assembly clamps it against the firewall so that it only comes out like this.

Good luck as it is a difficult job with much patience required.

!!!!!!!
_-This gray line has two black lock bushings. One in each end. It is likely these pieces stay on the fluid reservoir and the clutch master cylinder when pulling this line off. To reinstall these, CAREFULLY pull them off of the nipples that they stayed on without breaking said tip. If you break this, it will be a more expensive fix. Once removed, slide them into the gray plastic flex line. Then insert the line over the male ends when ready to go back together.-_

*-if you do not have a scantool/obd2 bi-directional unit that can send and receive data, you may not be able to bleed the ABS pump. I did not have to scantool bleed my pump because I didn't let air get into it by priming my lines and gravity bleeding at the fittings but I did it anyway to be safe. If you do not know how to bleed brakes, this is not the job for you.-*

***make sure to bench test your clutch master cylinder. I did this job 2 times because I got in a rush and recieved a new, bad clutch master cylinder. I am doing the job the 3rd time because the dealership misdiagnosed my clutch going to the floor. I have had a clutch issue since the car was bought at 000106 miles. They kept putting it off and saying my clutch felt fine until it went out after my 36k bumper to bumper warranty. This is a known issue that Chevy is somewhat ignoring in the states. It has been a safety recall in this chassis in other vehicles around the world but they are having troubles acknowledging it here. There is contaminated brake fluid woth debris from the factory and it potentially destroys the slave cylinder, master cylinders, ABS pump, brake calipers, and seals on the lines within the entire brake and clutch system. There can be clutch disc and flywheel issues too. If your clutch goes out first, you're one of the lucky ones because some people have lost brakes first and been in collisions. Be safe guys and if you have this issue, don't be afraid to put it to the dealer or GM corporate. They can only sweep it under the rug so much. There should be a safety recall on it.


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