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The owner's manual calls for changing the clutch fluid at 3 years. My 2014 base has less than 12,000 very gently driven miles - never been tracked. Given all that has to be done to access the drain plug, I'm not all that anxious to take it to the dealer. In my case, is it really necessary?
Yes you should. Just siphon the clutch fluid out of the reservoir. You can use a turkey baster/flavor injector from the kitchen appliance isle at the super market to suck out the fluid. Then wipe reservoir clean, add new fluid, press the clutch pedal 10 times to cycle the fresh fluid (with the cap on) and then drive the car.
If you want to go one step further, you can use a vacuum tool (Mity vac and similar) to suck out the fluid, then attach the tube to the "nipple" at the bottom of the reservoir. You can then suck out the fluid in the line to the slave cylinder. You then refill the reservoir, put cap back on, and pump the pedal 20 times. You will probably have no clutch pedal, but it self bleeds and works after a few pumps.
GM changed the reservoir to black instead of clear/white because the fluid gets black very quickly. The 5th gen Camaros share the brake fluid reservoir with the clutch slave and the slave cylinder contaminates the brakes. Many people add a separate clutch reservoir, which is white/clear. You can then see how quickly the clutch fluid gets contaminated with clutch materials. The ranger method, shows how to do the process.
Yep! Terrific procedure. I discovered the system likes new fluid about every 5,000 miles. On my 2014 the clutch started to chatter lightly on acceleration, smoothed right out after fluid change.
I just replace the clutch fluid in the reservoir when I change the oil or 2-3 times a year, and mine stays clean without doing multiple changes at one time. I don't pump the clutch. I just drive it for a few days and maybe change it a second time. I use an irrigation syringe with a Teflon tip so not to scratch anything.
I changed mine with the ranger method at 30k and the fluid was dark. I will keep an eye on it from here on.
I emptied, refilled, and pumped about 4 times to get clear fluid.
The reason for this procedure is that it requires removing the left side catalytic converter to get to the slave cylinder bleed screw to do a 100% fluid change which is a pain at home and expensive at the service bay.
This method gets you to maybe 95% new fluid and if you do it more often than the recommended 30K you will have good service and save several hundred dollars over the life of the car.
On my C7 Z06 there is a "nipple" on the bottom of the reservoir. I can pull a vacuum on that nipple with a hose and that goes down to the slave cylinder. I would say that I am getting 98-99% of the fluid out, since the clutch pedal has no resistance after I pull the fluid out. When I initially pumped the clutch pedal, after refilling the reservoir, the hydraulic fluid fluid shot up a good 6 inches. Thats is why I said to put the cap back on before pumping the clutch pedal. I don't know if the C6 has the "nipple" on the bottom of the reservoir.
If you just suck out the fluid, like shown in the video, then no worries. If you want to get the fluid cleaner, then try pulling a vacuum on the "nipple" on the bottom of the reservoir.
Originally Posted by Emerald Eagle
I changed mine with the ranger method at 30k and the fluid was dark. I will keep an eye on it from here on.
I emptied, refilled, and pumped about 4 times to get clear fluid.
The reason for this procedure is that it requires removing the left side catalytic converter to get to the slave cylinder bleed screw to do a 100% fluid change which is a pain at home and expensive at the service bay.
This method gets you to maybe 95% new fluid and if you do it more often than the recommended 30K you will have good service and save several hundred dollars over the life of the car.
I just replace the clutch fluid in the reservoir when I change the oil or 2-3 times a year, and mine stays clean without doing multiple changes at one time. I don't pump the clutch. I just drive it for a few days and maybe change it a second time. I use an irrigation syringe with a Teflon tip so not to scratch anything.
Say something about this photo
OK, I'll say something. You don't need the "needle." The syringe with no tip/needle works just fine.
Once you go through the multiple bowl and pump method to get it clean, just extract and replace one bowl once or twice a month, when checking the oil, and the fluid stays clean. You're right that no pumping is necessary when you're doing it one bowl at a time . . . just driving it mixes the new fluid with the rest.
OK, I'll say something. You don't need the "needle." The syringe with no tip/needle works just fine.
Once you go through the multiple bowl and pump method to get it clean, just extract and replace one bowl once or twice a month, when checking the oil, and the fluid stays clean. You're right that no pumping is necessary when you're doing it one bowl at a time . . . just driving it mixes the new fluid with the rest.
The reason I use the extension is because I also use it for brake fluid, and the syringe is too big to fit into the reservoir opening. Maybe not needed in this application, but allows more fluid to be extracted in others.
Also, the smaller the opening, the less likely it is to drip when you take it out.
The owner's manual calls for changing the clutch fluid at 3 years. My 2014 base has less than 12,000 very gently driven miles - never been tracked. Given all that has to be done to access the drain plug, I'm not all that anxious to take it to the dealer. In my case, is it really necessary?
As others have said the Ranger Method is the way to go. I do it when I change oil. Takes 10 minutes.
This is a pic from the first removal (after ~1 year) to the 6th. In 8 cycles with 30 clutch pumps each, it looks like it came from the bottle!
Clutch Fluid After 1st and 6th Change Using a Simple Replace and Pump Proceedure
06-27-2017, 04:13 PM
Clutch Fluid
Just siphon the clutch fluid out of the reservoir. You can use a turkey baster/flavor injector from the kitchen appliance isle at the super market to suck out the fluid. Then wipe reservoir clean, add new fluid, press the clutch pedal 10 times to cycle the fresh fluid (with the cap on) and then drive the car. 
