I can't for the life of me get the hard line to thread into my new master cylinder. Pretty sure I messed up the top thread, even. No matter what I do, it just won't start threading and it's such a weird angle that I can't put pressure on it to go in as I'm turning it. Any tips?

 

Obviously make sure everything is as dry as possible. I had trouble with mine last weekend but it was because I had brake fluid on my hands.

Have you inspected the threads? Do they look visibly crossed or anything?

 

I tried out the banjo bolt used by the stock slave cylinder line and it threads in just fine. I just can't get the hard line to thread because it's such a weird angle. I think I might need this stupid piece of shizz towed to a shop because maybe they know something I don't. I've been trying this for F'ing 3 hours and it will not grab.

 

Is the master cylinder already bolted up tight to the firewall? If so, you may try loosening the nuts at the pedal so you have a little play in master cylinder. Leaning it up or down may make it easy to thread the line in. Of course, after you get it started you'll want to snug the nuts back up, and then tighten the line down snug.

 

Too late. The threads are messed up in the master cylinder. What a terrible design that hard line is. I tried everything, bending the hard line to change the angle, loosening the master cylinder, tried tapping it in with a screwdriver and hammer to catch on the threads, none of it helped. I have no idea how a shop would have even done it. I have a braided stainless line on the way to end this nonsense.

 

That sucks.

Maybe something was screwed up before you started? I didn't have any trouble when I removed and reinstalled my M/C to clean it out when I changed my CSC. Maybe I just got lucky.

Another thing to try in the future is to start by turning the flarenut counterclockwise until you feel the threads drop in then try to tighten it.

 

I tried the counterclockwise deal as well. I tried starting it by hand for probably an hour, but it would always catch on the first turn, and since the angle is so weird, couldn't get enough hand torque to turn it more. So then I finally tried just tightening it with a wrench and after a couple turns, it popped out and that's when I knew it was downhill from there. I seriously don't know how you would get that fitting in there.

 

Ok, finally got the car working. I ordered another master cylinder from Rock Auto and it showed up today. Turns out the master cylinder from Autozone had defective threads or something, because the factory hard line went in like butter into the the Rock Auto cylinder.

One thing to note about the Beck Arnley M/C from Rock Auto is that I had to max out the clutch rod in order for it to engage correctly. When I tried to match the thread count to the OEM cylinder, the clutch engaged super high. I know that doesn't sound right, but it engages just fine, although a tad bit mushy, so I don't know what else I would do.

I'm going to replace the slave cylinder next week since it squeaks whenever I push in the clutch. I figure at 121k miles, it may be getting tired. At least the slave cylinder is way easier to install and I already have the steel braided line.

 

I'd say a mushy pedal is likely air in the line.

All those aftermarket cylinders look different than the OEM to me. Unless the bore of your old M/C was damaged in some way, Nissan does sell a rebuild kit that will make it like new.