Thread: gunk in my fly housing

Tim,

I had the engine out of my S3 recently to fix the rear core plug and despite having the drain plug out there was still a heap of sludgy oily water in the bell housing stuck in the slave cylinder well. The wading plug is a temporary plug that should be out for normal use and only fitted when you go for a bit of a dip, so if it was fitted it looks like you've been collecting sludge over a few years. Chances are the slave housing will have a bit more sludge in it which will have had a detrimental effect on the clutch slave and seals, so replacement, given the cheap price of a new one has got to be a good idea.

Doubt the sludge was entirely hydraulic fluid as the clutch reservoir capacity is pretty small, its probably a collection of a bit of everything, mostly water, collected over the years since the last clutch change.

On mine it looked like the slave cylinder housing was pretty much the lowest point in the bell housing (Blinding bit of Leyland design work there!) so dropping out the old slave should drain out the last of the sludge. Don't know if anyone else could suggest a good way of doing this without affecting the clutch but a gentle rinse out would probably pay dividends, de-greaser sprayed in and a rinse with fresh water perhaps??

As for re fitting the new slave, check the fluid line unions first, there is a good chance the thread in the new slave is a different size to the old one, bad time to find out when its all offered up and ready to go. Also when you bleed the slave stick the front wheels up on ramps, i couldn't get the system clear of air on the level and this did the trick (Top advice i found on here, thanks AULRO!)

ian

Originally Posted by Tim_AM

Decided to remove the wading plug on my s3 this evening to see if it was clear/ empty

Turns out it wasn't - a coupling of hundred ml of sludgy fluid,

would this be hydraulic fluid from the slave?

waiting on a new MC and Slave from the UK, just hoping its nothing else!

leaky seal in the slave?

You can immediately tell whether it is hydraulic fluid or gear or engine oil by the smell - the smell of hydraulic fluid and EP90 are distinctive, and a lot stronger than engine oil. If it is a diesel engine the black oil is a giveaway. Of course, it could be a mixture of all of the above. Hydraulic fluid is the most likely, and the easiest to fix.

John

Thanks guys,

i noticed the wading plug had grooves in it, is this so that it can be left in and still drain?

I think its was sludge and hydraulic fluid, I compared the smell with fresh had fluid but it wasn't quite the same, but I would guess that's the sludge/old fluid!

ill see if I can find a way to flush out any remaining crap,

brake cleaner might be the go, then ride the clutch a bit to clean it up?

If there is any contamination on the clutch plate itself (symptom is grabbing or slipping or dragging) I'm afraid there is no real solution other than replacing the driven plate.

I'm not sure it is on the Series 3, but earlier Series if you remove the gear lever bracket it uncovers a hole where you can get a better look at what is going on, and even perhaps flush out contamination. But be careful not to spread it onto the friction surfaces if it is not already there.

If is brake fluid it will have a bitter taste.

"butter"?

Originally Posted by jx2mad

"butter"?

Should have been bitter.