Doski

Well, recently i installed a cam and headers on my car and yesterday i made some wot runs.....when i would bring the clutch back up to disengage, it was catching halfway and not releasing. I pumped the clutch a few times it would go away. And today it wouldent go up att all....it stuck to the floor. I let the car cool down and got the clutch up, with normal driving it works ok.
I checked the fluid and it was all black.

What could cause this? My car only has 35k and its a 2002

thanx

Jon5212

iTrader: (2)

Read the sticky called Manual Transmission FAQ, this should help you quite a bit.

Doski

I did....but i dont have difficult to shift. I dident say so much why my clutch gets stuck to the floor or why the fluid is burnt?
And i think its a bit strange since the car has fairly low miles and its got the revised hydralics since its a 2002.

teke184

iTrader: (5)

hydrolic line could be too close to the headers/exhaust and the heat is boiling the fluid.

your first step is to bleed all the fluid out and replace it with good fresh fluid. see what happens.

cold try wrapping the hydrolic line in some protective material, even tin-foil may help.

bad fluid is probably the most common problem with clutches.

Doski

hope its just the fluid....because it is all black and burnt

Doski

Well i replaced the fluid. I did like Ranger recomends on corvetteforum.

The clutch feels like its new now.....its much much easyer to use now.....and it feels like its engaging higher too..

I used Castrol dot 4 syntetic fluid.
I´m going to wrapp the hydrolic line in to protect it from heat, because its what made the fluid burn i think....You should have seen it...it looked real bad and the smell wasen`t nice either....


Will try some wot runs after this and see what happends.......

Doski

buuuuu the clutch stuck again and the fluid was all black again......

Jon5212

iTrader: (2)

clutch line is still too close to the headers, try zip tying it up as far away from the header as possible, get some heater hose and slice it long ways and put it around the line

Ranger

You must stick with the changing routine. It often takes 10-15 fluid swaps of the reservoir, each accompanied my 20 pedal pushes. Goal is for the fluid to remain completely clear with zero murkiness post-agitation.

Once you get it clean, the boiling point is back near the number on the can and pedal woes will stay away until the fluid goes murky again from excessive heat of aggressive driving. Regular changes preclude it from degrading to that point.

Details are here: Taking Care of Your Clutch

Ranger

Doski

Another thing is when i shift i feel that the gears grind now. It didnt do this before...could it be air?

Ranger

Once the fluid is clean again, you will know. If the grind disappears, the root cause was a hydraulic issue caused by degraded fluid. If the grind is still there, your transmission needs attention.

Ranger

Doski

Yes but it felt like the grinding started when i changed the fluid the first time....I dosent grind much but i feels more than before i think...

Ranger

If you pump the clutch pedal 20 times fast, what color is the fluid now?

A clutch that does not disengage completely during pedal-in can cause shift issues. Again, very clean clutch fluid essentially eliminates the hydraulics as the cause. Doing that is the easiest self-help procedure.

Get the fluid really clean and then take a drive to check out the clutch and tranny feel agan. Report the results.

Ranger

Doski

Well´the fluid is black again, not as black as before. But i´m gonna clean it real good this time....i´did not do this 100% last time.

Doski

Ok so no i have tried cleaning the fluid many times but it still turns black after a while and the clutch sticks to the floor. Tho its much better now, it takes more abuse now before it sticks.....

Wrapping the hydrolic line in and new fluid did a lot but not 100%

SPEC-01

iTrader: (2)

Ok, I think it is safe to assume that you have thuroughly checked the "it might be your fluid" answer. Now it is time to move on to other potential causes for the darkened fluid and sticking pedal. It's time to change the Slave and Master. Let us know what you find. Thanks!!

Doski

Well it has gone worse now...one wot runn and the pedal sticks....and now i have a problem getting into 4th at wot too. At normal speeds everything works perfeckt....

Could it be the master?

SPEC-01

iTrader: (2)

At this point it would make more sense to replace the Slave and Master to eliminate any potential for problems after replacing one or the other.

Slowhawk

iTrader: (12)

Sounds like the clutch is slipping.Have you verified it's not the clutch? A slipping clutch can transfer alot of heat into the hydro;ics.

matt3383

iTrader: (3)

Someone correct me if im wrong but if the fluid heats up enough it will eat away the seals of the master and slave cylinder. I had some similar issues with mine when I did the headers and it warmed up outside. The fluid turned black and was very hard to keep it clear. I replaced the master and slave and heat wrapped the clutch line all the way to the trans. Make sure you use synthetic brake fluid since it has a higher boiling temp.