Clutch Fluid
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 13,592
Likes: 187
From: Hudson WI
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Clutch Fluid
OK, I change my clutch fluid regularly, but here is what I don't understand. I use high temp fluid, but don't check it every time I drive the car, so I don't always know the color after every trip. That being said, I sucked, pumped and filled until it was clear last Sunday night, today I drove 35 miles to Road America, drove it like my mother would, and just for grins, when I got home I checked the fluid and it looked like it has never been changed.
What's the deal?
What's the deal?
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 13,592
Likes: 187
From: Hudson WI
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Racer
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 336
Likes: 3
From: Huntington Beach CA
I didn't do the whole pumping the pedal routine. I just decided to change it every time the I drove in the garage with the car fully warmed up if it appeared dirty. I estimate it took as many as 20 times before the fluid was fairly clear. It has stayed clear now for about three months with no more sucking out the resovor and relacing. I only drive arounf 7K a year, FYI.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 13,592
Likes: 187
From: Hudson WI
NCM Sinkhole Donor
I didn't do the whole pumping the pedal routine. I just decided to change it every time the I drove in the garage with the car fully warmed up if it appeared dirty. I estimate it took as many as 20 times before the fluid was fairly clear. It has stayed clear now for about three months with no more sucking out the resovor and relacing. I only drive arounf 7K a year, FYI.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 820
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio Texas
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Racer
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 336
Likes: 3
From: Huntington Beach CA
Oh and by the way, the procedure takes about 2 minutes tops using the Walmart syrynge and the method that was posted. That's if you're not pumping the pedal and repeating. Be very careful not to get the fluid on your paint. I get the new fluid, the used engine oil bottle for recycling, and the syringe all on a rag on top of the engine. I do the procedure without passing anything over my fender. When I'm done I put the syringe back in a plastic jar, then close my fluid containers before passing them over any painted surface. If you do get the hydraulic fluid on your paint, remove it immediately.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 7,695
Likes: 51
From: Imperial Beach CA
My 05 Convertible has 125,000 miles and still with the stock fluid and NO problems, my 07 Z06 has 100,000 with original fluid and NO problems. Anyone with fluid paranoia care to explain that and don’t even start this well you don’t drive it hard BS (clean phrasing).
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 53,529
Likes: 77
From: Arizona
I have to cope with this scenario most every day. And mine was never easy until I started with the change outs. In fact before this I commonly had to use the e-brake trick.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,290
Likes: 0
From: Willow Springs IL
I agree 100% All these stupid threads about fluid changing make me laugh. You do more harm by removing the cap and introducing atmosphere into the reservoir than you do actually replacing the little bit of fluid in the reservoir.
SUBVETTE
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,841
Likes: 93
From: San Diego CA
Anyone who keeps their fluid clean via the Ranger method will tell you that it leads to a much smoother and controllable clutch engagement. Before I changed my fluid via the Ranger method my clutch was like an on-off switch, hard to get any kind of a smooth, controlled engagement. My clutch since the procedure is easy to control and a pleasure to operate. Another tip: I changed the clutch pedal spring from the original C6 spring to a C5 spring (which is less stiff) and it produced an even smoother clutch pedal engagement. Anyone interested in this mod can do a search and find the posts on this changeover.
Last edited by SUB VETTE; Jun 26, 2010 at 07:16 PM. Reason: sp
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,860
Likes: 5
From: Tampa FL
How about changing engine oil and brake fluid. Is that funny too? Changing fluids is standard maintenance on any vehicle. You're the first person I've run into that got a chuckle out of it.
Last edited by goatts; Jun 26, 2010 at 08:47 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,860
Likes: 5
From: Tampa FL
Have you just made a concious decision not to maintain your cars? My clutch fluid was an inch low and thick black at 5000 miles. But I like to autox and drag race. Driving easy may make a difference and could explain how you got away with it. The minimum rule of thumb is 2 yrs for brake fluid etc.
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11,221
Likes: 899
From: CA
2017 C5 of the Year Finalist
St. Jude Donor '08
I once heard a very chatty Z06 guy brag about still having the original oil in his car from when he bought it new. He had the car like 2 years, and had put close to 20k on the car. That just can't be good...
As far as clutch fluid goes, I'm on the side of keeping it fresh!! I have the bleeder line in both my vettes, and it use it regularly. Sometimes, I just ball up some paper towels, and carefully push it into the clutch fluid reservoir. This works great, and is easy to do! The towel just soaks up the fluid, and you then refill it...
The fluid serves a purpose, and does it better when fresh and free of debris. Each time the fluid gets hot, which occures more in cars with headers due to the extra heat created, and under hard/high RPM shifting, the fluid loses some of it's effectiveness in aiding the slave cylinder to do it's job.
For me, the few extra minutes and dollars to keep my fluid fresh, is well worth it. I can REALLY tell the difference in the way my cars shift if I don't keep up with it.
To each his own...
JB
Racer
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 383
Likes: 1
From: McHenry IL
Hate to break this to you Rob, but your car(a.k.a my old car), I used to do this religiously. At 1500 miles, I was out hammering on it and the clutch pedal dropped to the floor and stayed there. I let it cool on the side of the road for a few minutes and it started to work decently again. After that I went on the forums and saw that ranger method that states you have to cycle out the dirty fluid and cycle in clean dot 4 synthetic. I did this almost every 1000 miles and it worked flawlessly. Not only that, but my dealer found a TSB that if you get this issue, they will suck out all the dot 3 stuff from the factory and refill the entire system with the Dot 4 synthetic.....Which they did. Thats why your car is working good to this day...clutch wise. There is all truth to this method and I thought you should know that your car has had it done several times. It was topped off from the dealer with dot4 sync.