Rapidly disappearing clutch fluid :-(

[mrbonk]

Greetings,
After experiencing some odd clutch behaviour the other day (1989 Patrol TD42), I discovered that the reservoir was basically empty.....had a tiny amount of fluid left in the bottom. Now, I checked this not that long ago and I'm positive it was fine then. So, I filled it up, drove it around for a week, then checked it again. Almost empty again :-( There's no visible leaks around the reservoir or cylinder, so I'm assuming the only other place it can go is out of the slave cylinder underneath the car?

I priced rebuild kits for both and was surprised at how cheap they are......~$15 each or something like that. That was from Repco though.....are these kits ok, or should I be going genuine for this type of stuff?

[bogged]

Greetings,
After experiencing some odd clutch behaviour the other day (1989 Patrol TD42), I discovered that the reservoir was basically empty.....had a tiny amount of fluid left in the bottom. Now, I checked this not that long ago and I'm positive it was fine then. So, I filled it up, drove it around for a week, then checked it again. Almost empty again :-( There's no visible leaks around the reservoir or cylinder, so I'm assuming the only other place it can go is out of the slave cylinder underneath the car?

I priced rebuild kits for both and was surprised at how cheap they are......~$15 each or something like that. That was from Repco though.....are these kits ok, or should I be going genuine for this type of stuff?

Many people use repco kits for heaps of things. I'd price a genurine one then compare. Probably lots more for nissan..

[mrbonk]

Hmmmm....genuine prices are way more, as expected. However, something I discovered that surprised me was how cheap an entire replacement slave cylinder from Repco is.....only $42. I know there's no fluid coming out of the master cylinder, so I'm making the assumption the slave is at fault, so for that price I'll just replace the whole thing and put a kit in the master, just to be sure.

[Eddy]

dude!! stop wasting precious fluid!! Stop using the clutch now!

[Area54]

Do you have a booster?

[mrbonk]

Do you have a booster?

I don't believe so. It would be something the size/shape of the brake booster if I did, yeah?

[Area54]

Yep, a smaller booster between the cylinder and firewall. *MIGHT* have a leak, drawing some fluid into the vacuum system, but if you haven't noticed any fluid leak underneath the cylinder, this might not be the case.

[mrbonk]

Yep, a smaller booster between the cylinder and firewall. *MIGHT* have a leak, drawing some fluid into the vacuum system, but if you haven't noticed any fluid leak underneath the cylinder, this might not be the case.

I'll make sure tonight when I get home and have a proper look through the Gregory's to find out what else I need to do the kit/replacement thing. Someone also mentioned that I might like to check inside the vehicle, in case it *is* leaking at the master cylinder, but running down the inside of the firewall instead If it is, how does one go about removing brake fluid from an area like that? I certainly can't smell brake fluid inside the vehicle, so I think it's highly unlikely, but you never know I guess!

[Area54]

Wipe up with rags, wash off with soapy water. If its been there for a while, the paint may have already bubbled, so be prepared to repaint a little.

[jumankum]

i had the same problem a while back, I found the leak at the slave cylinder and replaced that as a unit $40.00 from repco. Literally a 5 min job. Ended up replacing the master as well $135.00

So easy the fix when i finally got around to it. I went through about 1ltr clutch fluid first though.

[mrbonk]

Ok. I've double checked and I don't have a booster on the clutch. I also checked inside the vehicle and there's no fluid in there, so I'm making the assumption it's going out the slave. So, I'm off to Repco this morning to get a complete slave cylinder and a kit for the master.

Is it feasible to drain the entire system and start again? Apart from the time it may take to bleed fluid back through the whole system, are there any other gotchas with doing that? The reason I ask is that even though I filled the reservoir with clean fluid, it's quite discoloured now. I figure I may as well replace the whole lot if I'm going to have both the cylinders off the car anyway.