At the begining of the summer I had the clutch in my 1998 Z28 replaced and with a Spec Stage 1 and also my clutch master cylinder replaced with that of a 2000 SS. The hydraulics were failing. Well, this morning I noticed there wasn't much resistance by my clutch. I got about half way to work when I relized I most likely didn't have any fluid. Sure enough, after driving home in 2nd gear I found the fluid resivoir empty! WHY!? Help me please. I had a Camaro shop install all of it. There had been no sign of problems. Any clues? Was it an install problem? Did I do it? Or is it normal to run out of hydraulic fluid?

 

It shouldn't leak a drop of fluid! Since all of the fluid has leaked out it should be pretty easy to spot where it went.

 

You would think so, but I drove it several miles so it may be a little tough.

 

maybe they didn't bleed the system and it sucked it all up and emptied the reservoir

or maybe the hose got rubbed on or burned

 

I guess that's a possibility Dave. It's been a few months and I've put over 5k miles on it, so I would think it would have shown signs , but I'll check. Worst part is my back up car has a water pump about to give up.

 

Taht's even better! Tehn dirt will stick to it makign it even easier to spot the leak. It can come from the master, the line, or the slave, so you have 3 places to look. First thing I would do is shine a light under the car and see if the bottom of the bellhousing is covered in filth.

 

I got under the car as good as I could this afternoon and filled it up. I started the car up in Neutral so as not to score the flywheel too much. I tracked the drip down to the chasis on the driver side just behind the front wheel. It seems to be the master cylinder that is leaking. I will call the shop tomorrow and try to plead my case that it is warranty issue. Thanks for the help and I will make sureto keep you updated. Would y'all agree that it is a warranty issue with less than 5k miles on it?

 

if its a GM part, it would have a 12K/12month warranty throught the dealership that installed it. not sure how the warranty would work on just the part though. and most "shops" dont offer warranty of labor on parts that go bad like that. they have no way of getting reimbursed for the labor to do it again like a GM dealership.

good luck though, maybe they'll take care of you. oh, and what do you mean by a camaro shop? a shop that specializes in fbody's?

 

Thanks. Yeah, I am fortunate to live in Charlotte close to F-Body Motorsports. That's who took care of me before. I hope they will do so again.

 

Well, I was wrong. I got her into F-Body Motorsports where they put her up on the lift and identified the slave cylinder as the problem... So I get to dishout labor the second time in 6 months for dropping the transmission... The guys at the shop are nice though and looking to get it handled in a day or so! After this procedure all clutch hydraulics will have been replaced with those for a 2001. Should I see if they can do the drill mod while they have it tore apart?

 

I do suggest doin the drill mod, however haveing the trans out isnt too much of a help. Ive done it both ways. only time saved is since you gotta bleed the clutch already. but, still I do suggest doin that if not done already.

 

If there is one thing that I have never gotten the hang of, it's bleeding fluids. I suck at it. So I will try to get them to do it for me.