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Old 11-12-2014, 04:35 PM   #19
cornerspeed92


 
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Drives: 2013 1SS 1LE
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Colorado
Posts: 4,188
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrystalRedTintcoat View Post
Mark, the bleeder is interesting but I'm not "buying" it in the sense that I am not thinking that ditching the smaller reservoir and moving back to the main reservoir is the answer. *if* the smaller reservoir was the problem, then fine, I'll stand corrected. But here is another observation for what it's worth.

I recently cleaned my clutch fluid by emptying and refilling the small reservoir. The shifting was smoother and the clutch pedal felt more easy to depress. But here's the thing. With the old fluid the clutch actually wasn't bad. I'd driven for months without needing to change the fluid. With the new fluid there isn't as much "feel". I don't mean to appear like I'm contradicting myself here but I like both situations for different reasons. Let me go on:

Old Fluid:
- consistent shifting
- no problems with the clutch going into gear
- harder to press clutch but felt precise

New fluid
- having trouble getting into 1st and 2nd gears at times
- inconsistent shifting as a result
- clutch is slippery feeling and I don't feel that I'm in as much control as before.

Having said this I'm glad I changed the fluid. When I did the reservoir was only 1/3 fluid. Somehow the extra fluid was consumed. Nothing is leaking.

ASSUMPTION
I assume here the notion of keeping the clutch fluid and brake master cylinder together is sound as the second poster suggests. However since I have the separated reservoir like you and so many other C5'ers I'm not going to revert just yet. Instead I'm going to experiment by topping off the clutch reservoir with new fluid vs. Emptying it each time. One of the benefits posted here in 2012 when we all bought these clutch reservoirs was keeping the clutch dust out of the brake lines. Ok. That's done. And maybe that means the clutch is designed to operate with dirty fluid. And if that's true then my topping off strategy may be the ideal thing giving the best of both worlds - more clutch feel and less brake line contamination.

One more thing. I only use DOT4 fluid in the clutch line.


-CRT

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Great read Brian,Thank you

Quote:
Originally Posted by h018871 View Post
No
I did mine on jack stands. It just takes a bit of fiddling. I posted a thread in the DIY section but don't know how to copy while on my phone.

I have the separate reservoir and flush with DOT4 whenever it gets cloudy ~ that works out to be about every oil change.
So far, knock on wood, no issues with pedal feel or shifting. I've run above 100F ambient.
Thanks for the info.
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