[Joon525]

OK so today I autocrossed and after my final and best run I notice something barely dripping down below near the front driver's side wheel. I touch it and it's not water.....more like fluid and me and ImagePree think it's the clutch fluid. The reservoir was very dirty and wet BUT the line coming out of it didn't seem broken at all. It was dirty but it looked more like the fluid just ran onto it. I think that during the hard turns the fluid splashed around and came out of the cap?? The reservoir looked wet/dirty from the top down. My reservoir looked more full than ImagePree's as well. I don't think it's cracked either as if it was I would imagine that a LOT of fluid would be missing. Anyone know if this is at all possible/normal with too much fluid or is there something else I should be looking for?

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AOL IM: Joon525

[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Joon525 (edited April 22, 2001).]

 

[vabeach_lude]

blown strut?

 

[Joon525]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by vabeach_lude:
blown strut?</font>

Nah I don't think so because the strut is clean as all hell.

 

[vabeach_lude]

thats good, when my front strut blew it was nasty. it leaked out for about a day or two.

 

[Joon525]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by vabeach_lude:
thats good, when my front strut blew it was nasty. it leaked out for about a day or two.</font>

Actually you just made me paranoid and I'm going to go out and look at it again now.

[This message has been edited by Joon525 (edited April 22, 2001).]

 

[Guest]

Brake and clutch fluid will spill over if it's too full and you get it really hot. That might be what it is. Is it really slippery?

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Billy
North Texas Prelude Owners Group
www.ntpog.org

 

[Joon525]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by 71dsp:
Brake and clutch fluid will spill over if it's too full and you get it really hot. That might be what it is. Is it really slippery?</font>

THANK GOD YOU ARE ON BILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah I think so....I'll have to go check again. Someone else said something about the heat as well. I pretty much stayed in 2nd gear most of the time. I only dropped the clutch once when I was starting, the other starts were just kinda quick engages you know what I mean?

 

[Joon525]

I just took 2 pics......I'll post them

 

[Joon525]

Well there they are. In that first picture you can see down below the reservoir where the rest of the fluid dripped down to. That second picture is just to show you what the tube coming out of the reservoir looks like. It seems to be OK now after the drive home. Looks like the typical overheating? If so, is taking some fluid out the way to fix this?


[This message has been edited by Joon525 (edited April 22, 2001).]

 

[Dr. James]

This happened to me down at Road Atlanta. That is most likely Clutch fluid. When the car gets thrown around a lot, and the fluid is too full it can spill out of the resovoir. Make sure to only fill the fluid to the full line, and not over. Make sure that the fluid is hot when you check it. Make sure that you also rinse the remaining fluid off the paint or it will eat the paint. Don't worry about it. if the pedal gets mushy, or the clutch won't engage, then there is reason to worry. I would flush the fluid and replace it with some high temp brake fluid like Motul 600, Super Blue, Castrol, etc. That way, you won't have to worry about overheating the fluid.

 

[Joon525]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Dr. James:
This happened to me down at Road Atlanta. That is most likely Clutch fluid. When the car gets thrown around a lot, and the fluid is too full it can spill out of the resovoir. Make sure to only fill the fluid to the full line, and not over. Make sure that the fluid is hot when you check it. Make sure that you also rinse the remaining fluid off the paint or it will eat the paint. Don't worry about it. if the pedal gets mushy, or the clutch won't engage, then there is reason to worry. I would flush the fluid and replace it with some high temp brake fluid like Motul 600, Super Blue, Castrol, etc. That way, you won't have to worry about overheating the fluid.</font>

Thank you James. I can use brake fluid as clutch fluid? I did not know this. Can you or anyone explain exactly what this fluid does anyway? Lubricant? Hydraulics of some kind?

 

[Guest]

The clutch system on the 5Gen is hydraulic. Use brake fluid. It works on the same principle as the brake system, and it uses the same fluid.

It looks like you just had it over flow a bit. Nothing to worry about.

If you want to use high temp fluid, use Motul 600, AP550, or ATE Super Blue, like Dr. James recommended.

Just clean that stuff off the paint, it's not good for it!

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Billy
North Texas Prelude Owners Group
www.ntpog.org

 

[Joon525]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by 71dsp:
The clutch system on the 5Gen is hydraulic. Use brake fluid. It works on the same principle as the brake system, and it uses the same fluid.

It looks like you just had it over flow a bit. Nothing to worry about.

If you want to use high temp fluid, use Motul 600, AP550, or ATE Super Blue, like Dr. James recommended.

Just clean that stuff off the paint, it's not good for it!</font>

Thanks guys!! Seriously if I ever meet you two drinks are on me.

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AOL IM: Joon525

[email protected]

 

[ThatPreludeGuy]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Joon525:
Thanks guys!! Seriously if I ever meet you two drinks are on me.

</font>

Ray..just let me know when your looking to do that and I'll help.

 

[johnsoncranium]

Looks like you need to bleed/flush ur clutch fluids too. From the lil I can see, looks like your fluids are dirty.

I did mine last week and it was just pure muddy-looking mess that came out.

Good preventive maintenance to keep clean fluid in there.

And while you're at it, check ur clutch master cylinder for any leaks.

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kimchi cures cancer

 

[johnsoncranium]

Hey, joon,

just to add, from looking at your bracket that hold your reservoir container, seems like the leak's been happening for sometime now, not just becuz you autoxed today. look at the dirt that the spilled fluid has attracted there.

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kimchi cures cancer

 

[Joon525]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by johnsoncranium:
Hey, joon,

just to add, from looking at your bracket that hold your reservoir container, seems like the leak's been happening for sometime now, not just becuz you autoxed today. look at the dirt that the spilled fluid has attracted there.</font>

Yeah I noticed that too this morning.....I'll check it again when I get home from work today.

 

[ImagePree]

dude, if you're gonna flush the clutch fluid, lemme know, i think i should do mine as well.... if you dont mind that is.

 

[Joon525]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by imagepree:
dude, if you're gonna flush the clutch fluid, lemme know, i think i should do mine as well.... if you dont mind that is.

</font>

We'll see. I might just remove some for now. I saw where the "full" line is and I'm WAY over it. I don't know why I'm that far over though.

 

[marcucci]

This is a common problem. It's not too full, it expands too rapidly. I had this problem with Honda and ATE Super Blue fluid; the fluid simply expands too much for the reservoir to handle.

When I switched to Valvoline Synthetic this problem went away. I had it happen on the clutch and the brakes.