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Fluid leak, master cylinder?


cob1980

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Quickly checked this morning there is a patch of fluid under the driver footwell. I can't pop the bonnet until I get the car out of the garage to check levels. Suspect it's clutch fluid, it's lifting the paint off the garage floor (grr I only just painted it). Seems a bit if a odd place and I cannot see where it is coming from. Is it possible that the master cylinder is leaking in to footwell and dripping out from there? Will take another look later.

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Both the clutch master cylinder and the brake servo with it's fluid are on the engine side of the bulkhead.

 

If either of these are leaking then it will run down the engine side of the bulkhead then more than likely out of the drain holes and onto the floor.

 

If it is brake/clutch fluid (will feel oily) then you also want to get the bonnet up trace the problem and then get the area it has leaked onto washed ASAP as it will rot the paint in no time.

 

 

 

Shameless plug - we are stripping a Zed at the moment so have a clutch master cylinder and a brake master cylinder with servo available :thumbs:

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Ugh... Not what I wanted to hear (the shameless plug is fine though ha), and didn't think of it rotting the car also. Yes it was oily, yellow, and smelt bad. I'll get the car out later and see it I can trace it. Don't know where to take it though as not any confidence in any local garage.

 

Would I not be better off replacing with new, and braded hoses etc or is it going to cost the earth?

Edited by cob1980
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As far as the clutch is concerned you have the reservoir at the front of the surround under the cover this runs into a rubber tube (that may be the leak) this goes direct into the clutch master cylinder (check around the master cylinder against the bulk head this is where it will leak if the seals have gone inside) coming out of the clutch master cylinder is a hard pipe that goes across the front of the bulkhead and comes out behind the plastic shield on the passenger side wheel arch, down under the sub-frame and back up to a mount - at that point a rubber hose runs to the clutch slave that is the hose that gets changed to braided.

 

The Brake master cylinder reservoir connects direct to the top of the master cylinder itself (again check for leaks) the pipes that come out of this are again hard pipes and go about 10 inches to the left as you look at the car they go into the ABS control and you then have hard pipes from there to each corner.

 

Hope that helps

 

(and all without looking under the bonnet :lol:)

Edited by Keyser
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Ha, someone is clearly familiar with the 350 lol! Thanks for the info I will take a look under the bonnet first and failing that I'll Jack it up. If I can somehow contain the leak and clean up the area that will be something.

 

Noob question, is the clutch and brake system connected to each other somehow or are they both just a similar setup, same type of fluid etc?

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OK answered my own question from a little research and found a page with lots of photos so now your description is making a lot of sense! I'm sure I'll be able to trace it now, hoping I can at least plug the leak somehow and clean up until I get the parts and to a garage. Spoke to MITZ he's booked up until end of July!

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Separate clutch and brake circuits on these on these but the same fluid in each system some cars have a common reservoir feeding the 2 separate master cylinders

Some cars like my radical has a reservoir for the clutch and 2 for the brakes one for each circuit :scare:

 

Anyway hope you get it sorted mate :thumbs:

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Separate clutch and brake circuits on these on these but the same fluid in each system some cars have a common reservoir feeding the 2 separate master cylinders

Some cars like my radical has a reservoir for the clutch and 2 for the brakes one for each circuit :scare:

 

Anyway hope you get it sorted mate :thumbs:

 

Gotchya, yer I think on all cars I've owned so far they've been a shared reservoir. 2 is enough haha!

 

Update: Took the cover off the brake/clutch compartment, brake fluid just sitting under max, clutch fluid over-filled and cap not quite seated (I think) voila! I thought. But then there was no trace whatsoever of any leak underneath. Checked all around the pipes, took the plastic surround off to get a better look still nothing. Before I put the cover back I removed some of the clutch fluid to bring it down to the max line. Next jacked the car. It's leaking on the the floor from the heat shield(?) area, undone the bolts to lower that - all bone dry. Must have spent a good 20 mins looking underneath but could not find the source of where the fluid has actually come from. Looked at both cylinders nothing obvious there. This time I didn't drive the car I just left it idling on the drive for a while then put it back in the garage, I've put down some newspaper and a couple of tubs to see if it does it again. So no conclusion just yet.... :headhurt:

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The plot thickens................

 

If it's over full when was it last filled? Maybe it was just a spillage????

 

May be expansion from heat but unlikely unless it was absolutely maxed recently?

 

Keep us informed :)

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The plot thickens................

 

If it's over full when was it last filled? Maybe it was just a spillage????

 

May be expansion from heat but unlikely unless it was absolutely maxed recently?

 

Keep us informed :)

 

Yup! Previous owner had the brake fluid changed before I bought it 10wks / 600 miles ago. But I don't know if the clutch fluid was changed because I didn't know there were separate tanks so I never asked, and a bit embarrassingly I never checked under the plastic lid. I drove it quite enthusiastically the last couple of times so possibly heat...

 

Today's update... it's been parked in the garage last 24hrs since I had it idling on the drive yesterday... not a drop on the floor! I'll see what happens at the weekend if I take it out. I'm hoping it's just overflowed but if it is that then why there are no marks on the paintwork (at least that I can see) remains a mystery. Thanks again :)

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