Brake & Clutch issues with both our Fieros

[Donster]

Seems that we both developed an issue on the same day;
The 84's brakes became spongy, although we just had them checked and bled recently, Anne says that every once-in-a-while she has to pump her brake pedal before getting resistance on the pedal, and her clutch pedal had a lot of tolerance (1/4 way down), before she felt resistance.

On the same day (driving to Dean's open house), my clutch pedal went all the way to the floor without any resistance and and the clutch would not engage.

AeroDonamic checked for leaks, nothing - I checked again at home, nothing.

As the brakes are more of a safety issue, I'm more worried about them, but of course I want both issues resolved, especially befor RFTH.
Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing these issues?

\D

[Fierofool]

I don't have any ideas on the brakes other than air in the system.  As for the clutch, different cars have different engagement points and different amounts of resistance on the pedal.  My 88 is very soft compared to my 87 and your 85 is somewhere between the two. 

Do you mean the 85's clutch wouldn't engage enough to make the car move? 

[TopNotch]

Parking brake adjustment.

[Donster]

Do you mean the 85's clutch wouldn't engage enough to make the car move?

The pedal just went all the way down to the floor without doing anything (zero resistance) and I could not shift (no engagement)

\D

[Donster]

Parking brake adjustment.

You think the e-brake has something to do with it?

\D

[TopNotch]

The service bulletin says it can.

[Fierofool]

Parking brake adjustment.

You think the e-brake has something to do with it?

\D

It could with the brake, not the clutch.  Did the clutch start working again? or did you get stranded.  How is the fluid level in the master cylinders of both the brakes and the clutch?  Give me a shout later and we'll see if we can figure it out.

[TopNotch]

The service bulletin says it can.

I was talking about the spongy brake issue...

[Donster]

Clutch pedal only failed me once on the way to Dean's on Saturday. My brakes don't really have an issue, only the brakes on the 84.

Don checked my levels and the master in the back. From the outside, all seems ok

\D

[Donster]

The service bulletin says it can.

\D

I was talking about the spongy brake issue...

Gottcha

\D

[Raydar]

For the clutch issue...
Pull back the rubber boot from the end of the slave where the pushrod comes out. If there is no fluid in the boot (or leaked out anywhere else) the the problem will be with the master.
Pull back the carpet from under the dash, where the master pushrod goes through. Sometimes fluid can leak there, too.
For whatever reason, it sounds like the master piston bypassed the fluid for that one pedal stroke. Might be a piece of grit or something got caught and then got washed away to... elsewhere.

If you have to replace the master (or slave) get one of Rodney Dickman's units. They are easily the best quality units I have ever seen. (At least the master is. Haven't seen one of his slaves yet.)

[Fierofool]

The slave on the 85 isn't that old.  I put it on when I swapped to the Isuzu.  If it's the slave leaking, just pick up the MR2 slave rebuild kit for about $10 and install it. 

I have both a Dickman master and slave cylinder on the 87 and they work great.  I've rebuilt 2 slaves with the MR2 kit and they work great, also. 

[Donster]

I'll check everything when I get home tonight

\D

[Donster]

Got home and checked for leaks on both of them, couldn't find any. Levels on both are full, so right now it's a mystery.
Any place good to have them checked? I'm thinking about going to Tires Plus, as they have been doing great work for us on all of our cars.

\D

[Fierofool]

As they say, Why go to the mountain when the mountain is coming to your place on Saturday?