SammyP

I have a 2005 C6 Z51 package. Was reading on here recently of the clutches going bad on these cars. I didnt think too much of it. Watched a video of the ranger method of changing the fluid on youtube. I havent had any issues with my clutch, car has 14,000 miles. I just took a look and the fluid is completely black. I will start the regular maintenance today. Thanks for the info. This forum is great. Does anybody not do this as regular maintenance?

Dano523

The fluid goes back, since the slave allows clutch dust to enter the system.

So the ranger method will take about a month of fluid changes along the way, and then every month of two (when the fluid does start to amber up), just change the fluid in the tank only.

So start with the Dot 4 fresh fluid change and the pedal pumps the first time, drive the car like normal for a few days, change the fluid again (no pedal pumps from here forward), about a week later, change the fluid again, let it go for a week or two, and change the fluid again and weekly with drivings, get the fluid changed until it stay clear for at least a week.

At this time with the fluid staying clear'ish for a few weeks, then just keep a eye on the fluid, and when it starts to turn amber again, just change the fluid out again.

As for fluid amount, just pick up a quart of Dot 4, since you going to go through about this amount before the fluid gets and stays clear clear. As for the remaining open bottle of Dot 4 in the quart bottle, give it a years life span (depending on the humidity of your climate), and when you throw it away and pick up a new bottle in a year, get a smaller bottle of it instead.

Hence you are first changing the fluid now to get it clear, but other problem with clutch fluid is it will adsorb water content in the air, and moisture saturation makes the fluid less effective isntead.

To take it even farther, on the brake system, which will use Dot 3, if you have not powder bleed the brakes to flush out the moisture contaminated fluid in years, now would be a good time to do so as well. Hence on the brakes, the fluid in them should be changed every three years of normal driving to keep them working correctly as well (moisture contaminated fluid not only reduces the pressure effectiveness of the fluid, but also lowers the boiling point of the fluid as well).

As for power bleeding the brake, do not let the system go DRY!!!!
Ideally, you will cycle the ABS pump when powder bleeding to force the old fluid out of it to get fresh fluid across the board, but if you are powder bleeding frequently enough, the small amount left in the pump is not the end of the world. But, if you let the system go dry, the only way to get the air out of the pump, is to cycle it instead.

And to take it one step farther, if the power steering fluid has never been powder flushed, this is another area you might want to do as well. It too, like brake fluid, can moisture saturate, and the difference between with it being powder flushed with new fluid (if it 11 years old) will be night and day in the steering.

Bluntly, pull a GM service history report on the car, and see what fluids have been change and when. With the low mileage the diff and trans fluid should be fine (so long as the diff fluid was upgraded with the TSB to the new GM fluid) and as for the Dex cool, it has about a 5 year life span, and is should have been power flush at some time as well.

lwise4

I did the Ranger method on mine yesterday. I have not had the car that long but it does have 53,000 miles on it. There was no fluid in the cylinder just some black sludge. I cleaned it out went to a pet store and bought a pack of dog syringes and stopped at the Autozone for some DOT 4. I put fluid in the tank and pumped the clutch about 20 times then siphoned out the black fluid. After 3 goes at it the fluid was clear!

SammyP

Dano523, thank you for the long detailed reply. Ill try to post some pics of it. I hope i havent caused any serious damage to the system.

Blindfingers

Only buy enough fluid for the change immediately to be done. DOT4 fluid absorbs water quickly so anything remaining in the can will absorb water from the atmosphere.

lebvette

In my particular case, mine was nasty after about 10k miles, and it took several times to get it clean; then it got dirty again quickly. After the 2nd flushing it only turned a tea color.

Flea

Hey everyone, I have done some reading about this issue and have some questions.
I have read that most likely it is the master cylinder that needs replacing. I would like to take it to a shop to get it done for me but my clutch is stuck to the floor. I have tried the ranger method and replaced the flood about 5 times now, manually pumping and pulling the pedal up but nothing has changed. I would just like to be able to drive it to a shop to have them change it.
With the clutch the way it is should I be able to put it in gear when the clutch is fully down?

My car is a 2006 and just started doing this, GM says it is to old for them to cover it. The service bulleting that extended the coverage expired on my vehicle last November.

Is there anything that I can do to drive the car to the shop or do I need to tow it?

z06clif

I got my master cylinder rlaced. GM sent a letter to me about "clutch to the floor" and they rlaced it just before my years were up. It was 10 years or 100,000 miles. Mine went to the floor once. I told them about it and they changed it out. Their solution to black clutch fluid is a black master cylinder so you cant see it lmao. It think its a c6 zr1 cylinder
Clif

Flea

Your a lucky man, I am not that lucky, my problems started after the 10 year allowance period. I don't drive my car much I have roughly 50000 miles on it. I am just seeing if there is anything I can do so I can drive it to the shop to get the master cylinder replaced instead of paying for a tow truck.

Admiral Ballsy

If they're going to have the car up, you might as well put a bleeder line in. The siphon method is definitely a 'second-best' approach, better (by far) than doing nothing but not completely effective.

I put one in mine this spring. Was much easier than I anticipated, considering the trouble other folks have had from reading old threads.

yellowzron

I do the ranger way every week. I know it sounds crazy but its easy and I keep the fluid clean all the time.

csf

I actually drain the clutch reservoir only every weekend and replace it with only that with fresh fluid. Takes one minute. Keep the syringe, the towel to cover the paint, the red solo cup for the used fluid and the small funnel all together on a shelf in the garage.

Honestly, I dont like sitting in the garage pumping the clutch pedal 100 times when the car is not moving. Probably no reason to feel that way.

But my system seems to keep the fluid clear or just slightly bronze in color, and clutch works great.

Dano523

The bleeder line is a mix blessing.

If you get the right one (Tick), then you don't have to worry about leaks at the slave to the bleeder line.

Next is the fact that on system without a bleed line, the tank is the highest point and all air in the lines will return it to self purge out of the system, while with the bleeder line in play, you just created another high point for air to return up, and unlike the tank, it does not self purge air out isntead.

Simply, with a Tick line that has a check valve in it, you just open the check valve on the end of the bleeder line valve, stick in into a jug to catch the old fluid, and with a powder bleeder set to about 15bs of pressure, when you are power bleeding the lines, you will cavitate the fluid in the slave enough to drive the debris out of the slave and up and out of the line into the jug instead. Hence to cavitate the fluid enough to drive out all the debris in the slave, it takes about a pint of fluid, and again, enough pressure to create the cavitation in the slave cylinder void as the fluid is flowing through it.

If the game plan is to not use a powder bleeder, and isntead just use pedal pumps to bleed the lines, your better off with the ranger method and not having a bleeder line instead.

Admiral Ballsy

"Cavitate" means "boil/evaporate", essentially - localized areas of below-vapor-pressure - and you're not going to cause brake fluid to cavitate with a power bleeder.

If you submerge the end of the bleeder line, you won't get any air in it. Regardless, I do use a vacuum pump.

The problem with siphoning is, it's not a recirculating system. All you're doing it getting the 'top', you really don't get what's in the cylinder itself. Better than nothing at all but not really optimal.

Dano523

OK, wrong word to use, but with a power bleeder, you are forcing enough fluid down through the reserve side port, mixing the clutch dust up into the fluid in the slave (instead of just sitting on at the bottom), so it will be driving out with the old fluid.




The slave nipples are both straight up with the torque tube is in place.



If you are just pedal pumping, then you don't get the constant pressure force mixing stream in the slave void to get all the old clutch dust out of the slave instead.

Flea

If my pedal is stuck to the floor, is there a test that I can do to make sure it is the master cylinder? Can I remove the master cylinder and clean it out to work temporarily?

Dano523

If your pedal is stuck to the floor, then the end plunger on your master cylinder rod popped off the end rod. Hence this is the reason that GM will replace your master cylinder for free with the new model that the ends does not pop off instead.

So here is the problem with the old style master cylinders that end plunger pops off the end of it (clear/white reserve tank) and the new updated master cylinders will resolve the problem since they redesigned the end plunger so it will not pop off instead (black reserve tank, and it will have a cover that states to use Dot 4 on it).

Attachment 48341326
See the above end pieces of the rod that popped off the rod, and are just sitting at the bottom of the channel, isntead of on the end of the rod where they belong isntead.
Attachment 48341327


Below is the full write up (and where the photo's came from) if you want to repair the old style master, but a mute point, since if you take the car to the dealer, they will replace the old master cylinder with a new updated one for free isntead (part of a notice they put out for the problem is it happens, and the TSB to replace it for free for 10years from the original purchase date, no matter if you bought the car used or new.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-pressure.html

Flea

My 10 years expired last November and I only started having the issues this summer. So GM will not do anything for me.

Dano523

The write up in the link I posted has the correction to the old style to reattach the plunger end back on, but since the master slave cylinder is plastic, if your master cylinder has enough time and use on it and the rubber parts, may want to just pay for a new style master cylinder to install it instead.

Myself, running an 05 and about the same with the 10 year running out, and if my old style master does let loose (do ranger method changes on it to keep clean fluid in it) or need to install a new clutch, will just upgrade to the new style come that time instead.