jjfabs

Took my 05 manual in for an oil change and a clutch fluid flush today. They tell me I have a leak on the slave cylinder. They topped off the fluid and I drove home.
My question is can I continue driving the car while keeping an eye on the fluid level? Is it possible that the clutch will NOT get contaminated with fluid? Is it possible it will just be the hose from the master cylinder to the slave? I'm guessing I will need a new slave and clutch, just hoping to delay the upcoming cost of all that. Car has 90k miles on it so a new clutch, slave and torque tube rebuild is not completely wasted money. No funny noises or poor shifting as of now. Thanks in advance.

Dano523

If slave is leaking, just a mater of time until the fluid reaches the pressure disc.
So question is if leaking from the plunger, or is it leaking from say the bleeder valve with it not tightened down tight enough from when used to flush.bleed the system instead.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-cylinder.html

But yes, if dropping the drive line to replace slave, then new rear main seal, clutch system, and may as well rebuild the TT with bearings and couplers as well.

jjfabs

Can I drive the car without doing further damage as long as I keep the master filled? Does the slave only leak on shifts or does it leak all the time? Last question, is the slave cylinder a different name for a throw out bearing? Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Dano523

Slave itself has inner cylinder with outer walls, that the plunger seal rides in/seals to, and in the first photo, you can see the bleeder valve as well.
If slave is leaking at the plunger, its only doing it when you put pressure on the clutch pedal.

Outside the slave sleeve part, you have a plastic throw out bearing race, with the throw out bearing on it on the end, there is the green shield that covers most of the works, and you have an outer spring that once you come off the pedal, will keep the throw out bearing slightly kissing the pressure plate fingers to keep the slave self adjusted.



So throw out bearing on end of slave rides against clutch pressure plate fingers that is bolted to back of fly wheel, and in between the pressure plate and fly wheel assembly, you have the friction disc. If slave is leaking, just a mater of time until the brake fluid makes its way to the friction disc to contaminant it, and have a clutch that is slipping like hell.

If lucky, maybe leak is just at the bleeder vavle, while means that fluid that is coming down is at back face of TT itself, with none of the fluid making it way to the clutch,

But would not bank on that, but leaking at the slave clylinder past the pumber seal, filling up the green boot to push the fluid to Throw out bearing, and where it going to contaminate the friction disc in a mater of time.



Bottom line, bell housing for manual trans has two flow ports in the bottom, so get a light to see into them, to see if the fluid is ending up on the pressure plate to start with, or if rear leak that is just allowing the fluid to leak down from the back, to run down the bottom inside of the bell housing alone.

Leak will need to be resolve,but if back surface of pressure plate in bell housing is still dry, them may have slightly more time to resolve the problem.
Also to point out, depending on the amount the plunger seal is leaking in the first place, will give you an idea of how long you can push the problem off. If your only having a little fluid to the reservoir tank bring it back up to full in say every 3 months, then maybe able to go a while. On the other hand, having to fill the reservoir back up weekly from it loosing that much fluid every week, you are already on borrowed time before the clutch starts to slip from brake fluid contamination to the clutch parts.

jjfabs

Thank you Dano523