soft clutch pedal

[jon haines]

my clutch pedal has gone soft,on inspection fluid was low no leaks so topped up made no difference,is there air in the system and should the fluid be clear in appearance or is my black colour normal.

[beastie]

jon haines said:

my clutch pedal has gone soft,on inspection fluid was low no leaks so topped up made no difference,is there air in the system and should the fluid be clear in appearance or is my black colour normal.

Rev should be able to help you with this, I think the fluid should be clear

[number 7]

jon haines said:

my clutch pedal has gone soft,on inspection fluid was low no leaks so topped up made no difference,is there air in the system and should the fluid be clear in appearance or is my black colour normal.

The master cylinders usually fail, with tell-tale signs of fluid leaking down the pushrod onto the clutch pedal. The fluid should definitely not be black - should be same as brake fluid - very pale yellow. Try pumping through with fresh fluid, and bleed the air out at the same time - the bleed in on the slave cylinder.

7.

[350zwelgje]

Bleeding the system could help, and a bit dark colour is not too bad as long as it is still clear...
Next step would be to replace the seals, if this is not ok then it could be the clutch mechanism inside the bellhousing. I had this, and needed to replace the clutch lever. Discovered it by removing the dustplate at the bottom of the bellhousing and had a look inside.

Probably replacing all fluid and bleeding the system properly solves it.

Rob

[wedg1e]

What I found was that when the master cylinder piston seal failed, the fluid did NOT run down the clutch pedal: it ran down the bulkhead under the carpet. My car has soundproofing foam under the carpet so the carpet stayed dry.

[jon s]

Just about to post a question about bleeding clutches, and saw this thread. My clutch has gone a bit soft, so I m going to bleed it. The handbook says use fluid exceeding dot 3. Might sound thick, but does that mean dot 4 fluid is ok.

Cheers

Jon

[350zwelgje]

jon s said:

Just about to post a question about bleeding clutches, and saw this thread. My clutch has gone a bit soft, so I m going to bleed it. The handbook says use fluid exceeding dot 3. Might sound thick, but does that mean dot 4 fluid is ok.

Cheers

Jon

DOT 4 is ok, and DOT 5.1 as well.

Rob

[SEvans]

NOT DOT 5.0 as it's silicone based and they don't mix very well.