Jamie,
How long had it been sitting? If there is no indication of hydraulic
fluid on the ground under the firewall or under the transmission or on
the floor board of the driver side, my first guess is the slave cylinder
is leaking into the bell housing of the transmission. This is what
happened to me when each day I would lose a considerable amount of fluid
with no leakage on the garage floor!
Your second question is a little tougher (for me anyway). I don't know
the differences in consistency between DOT3 DOT4 or Silicon fluid. If I
were in your shoes, I would test some of the fluid on a old painted
part. If the paint disintegrates, its either DOT 3 or 4. Silicon won't
eat paint. Determining this, I would use DOT4 if the test does remove
paint.
Has the slave cylinder been rebuilt lately? You may need to replace the
seals in it. This procedure and bleeding for that matter, will require
you to remove the tranny tunnel cover and access the cylinder from
above.
> The ease of and exact procedure is subjective. You must have access to
> the slave cylinder on the transmission.
> I prefer to remove the transmission tunnel cover to trying to squeeze
> under the car or fitting a remote bleeder valve, which would require
> access from the inside/top, anyway. From the inside, this is a one
> person job - the bright side of this job - since your bleeder valve is
> accessible from the passenger compartment and the clutch pedal.
>
> The procedure is also much like bleeding the brakes.
>
> With the bleeder valve closed, master cylinder topped off with fluid and
> the cap installed on the master cylinder, depress and release the clutch
> pedal three or more times, holding the pedal down on the last
> depression. Open the bleeder valve and observe what is expelled -
> pockets of air being released - it's obvious when this happens and will
> happen the first few cycles. Close the bleeder valve making sure not to
> release the clutch pedal until it is closed, otherwise air will be
> sucked back into the system. Repeat the depression/release of the clutch
> cylinder and the opening and closing of the bleeder until there are no
> spurts of air from the bleeder valve and only clutch fluid is being
> expelled. During this process, you should feel a gradual and noticable
> difference in the pressure from the clutch. When you've completed this
> process, you should open and top-off the fluid in the master cylinder.
>
> Before buttoning up the transmission tunnel cover, you should start the
> engine if possible, in neutral depress the clutch and put it into first
> gear to test the function of the clutch. In gear, test the release of
> the clutch and overall feel. You don't have to completely engage the
> clutch. You should probably be safe by having the brake on and removing
> any humans observing from in front of the car. :)
Hope this helps you.
Vic
Metallian6@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hi list. I am in need of the wisdom that so often flows through here. My
> clutch master cylinder is empty. It was full when I parked it. I have notice
> no leaks, but then again it's been raining too. 1st question: Where would I
> begin to look for the most common places for leaks? 2nd question: What kind
> of hydraulic fluid should be used to fill it up again? I know I will have to
> bleed the slave cylinder, what is the best way to do this? Thanks in advance.
>
> Jamie & Judas
> 1979 Spitfire 1500
> 1976 Spitfire 1500 (Body shell)
> 1962 AH Sprite MKll
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