Not Ranked
Buzz,
Well, OK... is the fluid near the center of the car or under one of the corners? If it's yellowish, you're probably right: it's hydraulic fluid; either from the brakes or clutch. Also if it's yellowish rather than clear, it's lilely time to replace it. Locate the source of the leak and replace whatever is causing the problem. If you're lucky, it could be something as simple as the hose from the clutch reservoir to the master cylinder.
The clutch reservoir is on the firewall (at least on my car) and the external slave cylinder, if there is one, is mounted to the rear of the block. If you have a hydraulic throwout bearing, it should be bleedable (?) from outside the bellhousing but changing it would necessitate removing the transmission from the motor.
The brake master cylinder only looks impossible to fill; it's really not. I use a small funnel with a length of hose attached and temporarily zip tie or wire it to the hood prop rod. COVER EVERYTHING WITH RAGS AND WIPE AND FLUSH SPILLS WITH WATER IMMEDIATELY. You should be able to see the fluid level from the outside but if you've never flushed the system, now's a good time to do it. I use about a quart of fluid, bleeding each caliper until the reservoir is just about empty, then refilling the reservoir, starting with the right rear outside, then inside, left rear outside and inside, etc. Bleed each caliper until the fluid comes out clear. You'll want to flush the clutch system too, and if you think the brake master cylinder is hard to get at, wait until you bleed the clutch master cylinder! It can be done, though, and if memory serves me correctly, the bleeder valve takes a 10mm box end wrench.
Good luck and let us know what you find.
Lowell
|