synthartist69

Hey guys,

I have the modern driveline hydraulic clutch kit with a T5 transmission. It has given me a lot of problems. At about 4,000 miles I blew out the slave cylinder, replaced it. 4,000 miles later it is slightly leaking. Also, the linkage that goes from the pedal to the master cylinder never worked right. It was always in a bind and too hard to push for a hydraulic, felt worse than the zbar that was in it but it had to go when I did the 347 engine conversion. I called Modern Driveline, very nice guy on the phone named Jeff I think. He was very helpful and told me that the linkage I have which I bought in 2012 had flaws... yeah no kidding. When you push in the pedal the linkage starts to push in at angles instead straight to the master cylinder. Over time 8000 miles, all the pivot joints have worn out to where it is really bending at an angle now. Not sure why all the pivot points with this linkage. I noticed that MCleod had one straight rod that comes off the pedal, less parts to get worn or to bind up. So I thought about going with the MCleod set up. Then I considered their kit with the hydraulic throwout bearing instead of the external slave. After reading a ton of negative posts about their hydraulic bearing, I am afraid to even try it. Folks are having leaking issues right from the start with those. So I could really use some help here from you guys who have been down this road. If I go with the MCloud clutch pedal to master cylinder kit, is there a great hydraulic throwout bearing that I could use with their kit instead of the one that they sell? I am reading that the Tilton or Howe is a good bearing but I have no clue of what part number I would even need. Also, it looks like it may take a transmission rocket scientist to set one of those up correctly or it will leak if your master cylinder pushes too far or forces too much pressure. What about a great external slave instead. Apparently the one from Modern Driveline is not worth putting in as I am on my second one in 8000 miles. Now, Modern Driveline is sending me improved replacement parts for the linkage from pedal to master cylinder if I want to fix it and just replace the slave cylinder with another brand. Any help here would be appreciated.. thanks guys!

James

barnett468

are you saying you bought a kit from him and he said it has flaws and he will not replace it for free?

tiltons can leak also

stock/oem is usually best.

synthartist69

He did say that and did offer to replace the problem linkage for free. Do I have faith that the new linkage will not fail... NO Did not know that there was a stock/OEM hydraulic system for any mustang..??

barnett468

the oem hydraulic one is from an australian car but i typically use the stock mechanical linkage because of the many problems there are with aftermarket hydraulic ones.

Gun Jam

I run the MDL kit as well

I had issues with the black master cylinder. It was replaced for free with a natural aluminum colored one (both wilwood) what color was your MC?

I have no issues with the linkage it runs smooth it was purchased about late 2016 and I have about 13,000 miles on it.

I have the internal TOB from MDL its a Tilton 6,000 it does not leak it operates well and fully disengages the clutch. However it does have a slight squeak to it sometimes at idle despite that I have found it to be more reliable than regular TOB which are hard to find from a quality manufacture.

Over all im pretty happy with the setup:

Pluses: Full clutch release, Smooth pedal with reasonable effort. MDL has good customer service.

Neutral: Internal TOB is excellent at doing its job but could do without the slight squeek. Was told by MDL that its not normal and may have bearing issue...can be replaced for reasonable cost..so Im stuck between its really good performance and a questionable sound from it.

Minus: Black MC was the SuxX0r a total POS would not bleed even with pressure bleeder. Replaced for Free with cast Al colored MC and excellent performance was the result. But Like you the new MC did leak it was again replaced for Free and so far so good.

Conclusion: Despite some small issues ( I consider them small especially since they were quickly taken care of by MDL) This system with the New style MC, 2016 revision linkage and Tilton 6,000 internal TOB is significantly better than any previous clutch system I have used before.

Previous systems include: Mustang Steve cable system (Good quality system with good clutch release but high pedal effort and tremendous load on firewall would have likley developed cracks in firewall from fatigue after several years, routing cable is PITA melts on headers)

Daze car's hydraulic system. uses Chuck Norris Company (CNC) slave and master which barley disengage clutch, high(ish) pedal effort but not unreasonable. Really tough the drill pedal arm close enough that it pushes perfectly straight into the MC. I was off just a wee bit and it caused MCs to fail maybe faster than normal (every 3 years about) they would break internal springs and showed more wear on the bottom of the bore vs the top (probably due to that small misalignment...by the way it was easier to replace MCs every 3 years vs taking out the pedal to fill and re drill the hole.

Hope this helps with your search / decisions

synthartist69

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this response. So to be clear, I do have the aluminum master cylinder, wilwood 7.0. It has never leaked, still doesn't. My issue has been with the linkage, which they are sending me an improved linkage kit from pedal to MC. The other problem of course has been the leaking slave. I like the Tilton throwout bearing option. I could do without the squeak as well. The problem is, each time you need to replace it if you ever need to, the transmission must come out. But it still may be a good option to take a chance on. Thanks again!

synthartist69

I did some research today on the Tilton 6000. Pretty much every one who has tried it loves it unlike the MCleod bearing that everyone hates. Thanks again for pointing me in this direction, I ordered one from Modern Driveline today.

barnett468

My friend has that and hates it because it leaked, so he rebuilt it and it worked for a few days then leaked again. I also had one and it leaked, however, there are certainly many that don't leak. They can also be a pita to bleed all of the air out of unless one knows how to do it properly. One thing for certain is that a stock type mechanical linkage will never, ever, leak.

Gun Jam

Let us know how the tilton works out for you.. Do take the time to read the install manual and set it up proper to account for clutch wear...Another plus is the MDL system is set and forget. You wont have to mess with preload or adjusting anything to accommodate for wear (which was rarely but did occur in my case a few times with the daze system) ..its one and done. The tilton 6,000 is a pretty impressive looking piece of metal vs the regular TOB I doubt you'll have any issue with it.

You still have to pull the trans with the old style TOBs as well