R400D : Clutch

[Steve Campbell]

Out for the first blat of the summer yesterday...after about 45 mins, gears start to get "sticky"...10 mins later...loss of clutch....completely. Had to phone the missus up and a quick tow home (luckily I was enroute home after the gears started playing up so not too far away).

 

Quick check of the clutch master cylinder...hardly any clutch fluid !! A quick bleed and top up and all seems well.

 

BUT : I can't remember ever having checked the clutch fluid 😳 ☹️ but the car has been serviced at J Whiting annually. So where has the clutch fluid gone ?

 

Doesn't look like I've lost it on the garage floor over the winter ? Didn't have any problems pre-winter (that I remember) in selecting gears. Have searched the archives and am going to try the "broom handle" and leave the clutch depressed for 20 or 30 minutes to see if I'm loosing any.

 

Any other thoughts ? Could this just be "check it more often" ! 😳 or something more serious going on. It's a 2008 S3 Duratec R400.

 

Edited by - steve campbell on 10 Mar 2014 10:36:39

[Pendennis]

Clutch fluid like brake fluid is not like oil so unless keeping a rigorous eye out you may not spot a leak. However, the garage floor should offer some evidence I'd of thought.

Bleeding a clutch is very easy and quick, so broom handle is not necessary IMO. Keep an eye out on the level in the cylinder and the floor, but if leaking it would be coming from join of engine/bell housing

[BBL]

It can also leak out through the plunger at the cylinder up by the pedal box, if the pedal has been depressed too far enough times to prematurely wear the seal there. Or so I have read here before.

[Pendennis]

Good point but don't you have a clutch stop?

[nutty7]

I had the same problem last year so started to monitor the level was losing fluid very slowly just kept topping up couldn't find any leaks under car either, researched it and realised it could only be the slave cylinder, so over the winter took engine and gearbox out replaced cylinder and clutch release bearing plus put a new clutch in, car had only done 9000 miles. Pain in the

 

[nutty7]

Quoting nutty7: 

I had the same problem last year so started to monitor the level was losing fluid very slowly just kept topping up couldn't find any leaks under car either, researched it and realised it could only be the slave cylinder, so over the winter took engine and gearbox out replaced cylinder and clutch release bearing plus put a new clutch in, car had only done 9000 miles. Pain in the

 

edited to add (fluid in reservoir was black and now no leakage)

[BBL]

Quoting Pendennis: 

Good point but don't you have a clutch stop?

My 2006 S3 does not. One of those things I intend to get around to doing one day, but...

[Pendennis]

Of course if your using carp fluid it could be getting too hot and relief itself from the cap orifice. Dot 5 tends to cope with high temperatures quite well.

[BBL]

Quoting Pendennis: 

Of course if your using carp fluid it could be getting too hot and relief itself from the cap orifice. Dot 5 tends to cope with high temperatures quite well.

I assume you intended to type "DOT 5.1", as DOT 5 (silicone-based) should not be used in your car!

[Pendennis]

Yes I did well spotted

 

However, I know you cannot mix Dot 5 with other glycol fluids, but it works very well if applied correctly, especially initially.

[Alan Reeves]

My new build dumped all the fluid ...engine out and it was the plate that the master cylinder inside sat on. Essentially it warped it by not sitting flat. I drilled. Hole in the bell housing with a plug just to be able to check in future for fluid loss.