I have a bone stock 03 Z06 with 31k miles. The clutch pedal started giving me problems so I checked the fluid and the reservoir was empty. However, I have no visible leaks under the car or on the pavement in my carport. Where do I need to look first to diagnose the faulty part?

 

Check by the bellhousing on the rear of the engine, it is probably the slave cylinder.

 

thats bad.... you might try filling it up and see what happens.. there might not be anything left in it to leak... another possibility might be severe clutch wear... but more unlikely.. hopefully its a bad connection at the lines or a bad clutch master cyl.. as those are the cheapest things..

good luck.. keep us posted!

 

Is it common for the slave to fail at this age/mileage?

 

I dont believe so.. but I suppose it all depends on how it was treated..

 

mines done this 2 times now in the past 2 weeks im in the process of collecting parts to do a clutch job with a flywheel.master and slave cyl i have 34k by the way

 

When you first experienced clutch pedal issues, did you inspect the reservoir? If so, what did you see?

If you've gone 31K in six years without ever changing the clutch fluid, then the fluid was badly corrupt with clutch dust and water. That commonly causes pedal issues. But there me be no leak.

Clutch fluid serves as the lubricant on which the the actuator's main O-ring seal slides. Left unmaintained for six years, it's not unheard of for the reservoir fluid level to drop. And that's most common in cars that see some hard driving.

Before starting to swap parts, it's worth the effort to first clean up your clutch fluid and, in so doing, recheck for leaks and determine if the seals are in tact (see below). If they are, you save $$$ and learn a maintenance lesson.

The clutch itself should be fine at 31K. But the master and actuator (slave) seals can be damaged by running with corrupt fluid.

So, suggest you clean up the fluid and set the level to full (max-line felt with you finger inside the reservoir), then watch the fill for a week or so. If there is a leak, you'll see it.

If you have the ability to get under the car and remove the inspection cover from the bottom of the bell housing, you can quickly determine whether the actuator is leaking fluid.

You can also inspect the driver's footwell along the firewall for signs of clutch fluid that can sometimes leak from a damaged master cylinder seal. Finally, you can check your garage floor below the driver's-side firewall for signs of a fluid leak.

let us know what you find.

Ranger

 

I've had the car since January and I have changed the fluid twice since then. It was a few months before I learned about the fluid issue otherwise I would have changed it more.

I'll refill it and see what happens. Thanks for your help.