Clutch Master Cylinder Empty

[agentx]

Hi all;

I actually thought my gearbox was rooted but thanks to an hours browsing and searching around on the forum, I found out that there are two cylinders that exist and when i went to check my car, the master was bone dry. I filled it up with brake fluid and the clutch is working better now (still not as good as before but much much better ... I tried looking for a leak but its all bone dry near the cylinder and also near the footwell. I drove for around an hour round trip and came back and the fluid was still right where i topped it up till.

My question is, should I bother replacing the master and slave cylinder or wait to see if it gets empty again? Or just go and get it bled and looked at once from a mechanic when I'm getting my gearbox oil replaced?

Thanks for your help

[GTSBoy]

When you say "footwell", did you mean inside the car? Because if you didn't then go look for brake fluid running down the inside of the firewall into the carpet and sound deadening. If you lie on your back with your head under the steering column and run your hand over the clutch pushrod (runs between the pedal and the firewall and passes through a rubber boot at the firewall) and you feel fluid, then the master has been bypassing internally and leaking out its back side. If you don't find any trace of fluid in the car, then it is probably the slave that has leaked it out. Get under the car and look for evidence around the slave. If it's been leaking there it should be fairly obvious.

If not - drive it for a week or two, check it every time you get in or out of the car, and see what happens. If the fluid goes away again, then get to a mechanic and get it fixed. Not having a clutch is a massive pain in the arse.

[agentx]

Yes I meant inside the car. The pushrod (if thats what its called) did have a bit of liquid at the end near the rubber seal (on the firewall end) but I'm guessing thats normal? I'll get the slave checked out while the gearbox oil is being replaced. If the fluid does not decrease after a couple of weeks, I should still get the system bled out correct?

Thanks for your input.

[GTSBoy]

Yeah, I suppose I ignored the bit where you didn't bleed it and asked if you shoud get it bled. The answer is yes, get it bled. It will work much better, and more to the point, the mech can inspect the system at the same time.

cheers

[agentx]

Almost a week of driving - still full where i left it -/ what could this "temporary" leak be ... taking it to the mechanic in a week and a bit

[Thelen]

do you ride the clutch much? could be something wrong with the pressure and riding it causes it to leak out. no idea otherwise.

[agentx]

Nop - not at all!

[smithy85]

My R32 GTR had a leak from the clutch master cylinder that took about 1-2 weeks to notice a drop in fluid level with no obvious/noticable leaks.

Replaced the master cylinder and all good for about a year or two and then the booster stopped doing it's thing and had an intermittently hard and then soft pedal.