How To Flush Corvette Clutch Fluid (C5, C6, & C7 Corvettes)
Dirty clutch fluid can lead to gear slippage, sluggish shifts, and other issues. This DIY hack will help you learn how to flush Corvette clutch fluid on all C5, C6, and C7 Corvettes!
The mighty C8 Corvette may have dropped the manual transmission (#Controversial). But there are almost 70 years worth of manual Corvettes still on the road with drivers rowing gears just the way Zora Duntov wanted. But when was the last time you checked your clutch fluid to make sure it’s not dirty? Because you should. It’s important and, if ignored, can lead to all sorts of problems. The problem, if we’re being honest, is that learning how to flush Corvette clutch fluid can be a bit of a pain in the butt.
Thankfully, our awesome CorvetteForum members love coming up with DIY tips and hacks. Today we’d like to share with you a Corvette clutch fluid flush tutorial created by C5Natie. Make sure to click that link to read C5Natie’s full forum post, but this flush type should work on all manual C5, C6, and C7 generation Corvettes. We’ve embedded C5Natie’s video guide below, but here’s a quick outline of this simple, easy, and affordable clutch fluid flush.
As always, please be careful working on your own car. Take your time and never FORCE things.
DIY Clutch Fluid Flush Tool
The heart of this DIY fluid flush involves making your own too. The great news? It’s quick, easy, and inexpensive. You need to purchase just two parts that will cost you under $10.
- MedLine Sterile Piston Irrigation Syringe – 60mL Sterile, part number #DYND20325 (or similar)
- 1/8-inch OD nylon tubing, at least 20-24″ in length.
How To Flush Corvette Clutch Fluid
The process to change the fluid is quite simple.
- Fill your syringe with fresh fluid (make sure to bleed any air from the syringe AND the tubing)
- Open the clutch fluid reservoir and remove as much old fluid as you can with a turkey baster (or similar)
- Insert the tubing into the hole at the bottom of the reservoir until it stops (do NOT force it)
- Slowly push the syringe piston down (the reservoir will start to fill with dirty fluid because the clean fluid is pushing it upward)
- Remove the tubing and repeat steps 2-4 until no dirty fluid appears in the reservoir
- Top off your reservoir with fresh fluid (just below the MAX line) and put the cap back on
- Pump the clutch pedal roughly 20 times to ensure you have good pedal feel
- Repeat if dirty fluid returns after driving
Limitations to this Method
If something seems too good to be true it usually is. And that is partially the case here. This DIY clutch fluid flush is overall terrific, and an improvement over another clutch fluid flush hack called the “ranger method.” It is quicker and will remove fluid from the master cylinder to the reservoir. However, you will still have some old fluid downstream (between the master cylinder and the slave cylinder).
In other words, this DIY tutorial does NOT replace doing a full flush using a remote bleeder.
Still, you can repeat this type of flushing during routine maintenance to keep things clean and healthy until it’s time to go to your favorite dealership (is that a thing?) or Corvette performance shop. And some of our members reported doing this (or similar) for literally hundreds of thousands of miles.
Images: Corvette Forum; Chevrolet
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