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Clutch Cylinder

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SaxMan

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Recently, I had noticed the dreaded fluid spot in the driver's side footwell. At first, I assumed it was me hopping in and out of the car with oil on my shoes, and then thought it might have been part of the chassis self-lubricating system. I cleaned up all traces of fluid from the footwell and went driving. The fluid is coming out of the clutch cylinder and dripping down on the pedal. It appears to be a slight leak as I noticed the reservoir for the master cylinder is still fairly high. A couple of questions:

1. Is this a case where all I need to do is replace a seal, or should I go ahead and replace the master cylinder and/or slave cylinder. VB makes these "clutch repair kits" that seem to be an all-in-one solution. It seems if I'm going to have to yank the MC, I might as well go ahead and put a new one in.

2. Dumb question - what kind of fluid goes into the clutch? Is this also 20W50 like the tranny?

See...I told you it wouldn't be long before I hit my next crisis :p Oh, and to add insult to injury, the right turn signal indicator is not illuminating, but the actual turn signals work. Lucas Electrics at their finest!
 
I am a fan of trying the rebuild kit first. It is much mch chewper than a new one. Brake fluid goes in the clutch so be careful, it will eat your paint!
 
Which year/model car do you have?
 
David, check the fittings where the line enters the master. That car had a slight leak up there last year, and it just required tightening. I'll bet that's all it is.
 
longbridgehealey said:
David, check the fittings where the line enters the master. That car had a slight leak up there last year, and it just required tightening. I'll bet that's all it is.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Larry. I'll check that tomorrow. Hope that's all it needs. I had it out for a little bit today. I think I finally got the carbs set up nicely in terms of mixture and idle. Gotta love when you can get the 1275 to purr.
 
...and as mysteriously as it started, there was no leak today (and I still have fluid). Temps were a bit warmer today, so I'm thinking maybe some expansion closed of the leak. I'll still hunt it down, though.
 
Back in from the garage. I pulled off the cover to the pedal box. There was fluid from what may have been a previous leak, but nothing fresh. I cleaned out the inside of the box and put a couple of drops of oil on the friction points. I cycled the clutch pedal and brake pedals about two dozen times each...no new leaks. I'm stumped. Perhaps what was dripping down was a residual from the brake service I had back in December? I topped off both the brake and clutch reservoirs to the "Max" lines, so I'll see if there is any change in their fluid levels.
 
Mi e did that for a year or two till it went out. It's waiting in the barn to be fixed right now, mc is on the coffee table waiting to be put in. I bought both, new one goes in and the old one gets rebuilt as a spare.
 
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