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I took my s2k in for a total fluid flush. I noticed the clutch fluid reservoir is over filled passed the MAX line. Not quite at the cap but over the MAX line for sure. Could this cause an issue at all? Could it spill out fowling the paint finish around the hood area? Bad for the clutch? Lines? Etc?
I drove like this for quite a while before noticing, as to my concern.
^ the easiest thing you could ever fix, as noted above. Slight over filling will not cause any issues, drain out a bit for peace of mind with a turkey baster type tool, you will be surprise how little fluid it takes to go slightly over, maybe one tablespoon.
I have personal experience with this, if it is over the MAX line you risk a chance of the clutch fluid spraying out from under the cap under high heat/pressure loads. The result is the clutch fluid will then spray on the brake booster, and in only 12 hours will eat the black paint away and begin to rust quite badly. You will then need some steel wire brushes, WD40 and a lot of elbow grease to remove all the rust (add a bit of dialectic grease when done will prevent any further rusting).
I know of this intimately, with my first clutch change I topped off the fluid, thinking the MAX was not important. That little bit of room between MAX line and the top is required because of the high pressure in the brake lines, when you stomp on it, and if it's hot outside then that excess fluid has to go somewhere...now I finally understand why people have socks on their clutch caps.
Edit: I'm actually only referencing overfilling the Brake reservoir past Max. (sorry for the confusion).
Last edited by Thomas Guide; 06-26-2019 at 07:38 AM.
Reason: Brake not Clutch
I have personal experience with this, if it is over the MAX line you risk a chance of the clutch fluid spraying out from under the cap under high heat/pressure loads. The result is the clutch fluid will then spray on the brake booster, and in only 12 hours will eat the black paint away and begin to rust quite badly. You will then need some steel wire brushes, WD40 and a lot of elbow grease to remove all the rust (add a bit of dialectic grease when done will prevent any further rusting).
I know of this intimately, with my first clutch change I topped off the fluid, thinking the MAX was not important. That little bit of room between MAX line and the top is required because of the high pressure in the brake lines, when you stomp on it, and if it's hot outside then that excess fluid has to go somewhere...now I finally understand why people have socks on their clutch caps.
And when it gets to the metal, you get to strip it down, acid etch the metal and then start all over on paint. Luckily have never had that happen to me but have heard a few stories from paint guys who had to repair cars that have had bottles of it dumped on them by arseholes who were mad at the owners!
instead of a food baster, use a large plastic syringe- it holds the seal much better preventing the accidental drop on the paint. Find them at the surplus store, or local pharmacy.
I'd like to add (and correct my earlier post) that my experience is with an overfilled Brake reservoir (not clutch reservoir) but I think potentially it can happen to both as referenced by Deckoz pic. In the pic below for reference, one can see where the brake (clutch) fluid spills onto, it sprays on top of the metal attachment and then oozes all around and then downwards. After only 12 hours and about 5 miles of driving, it completely ate away the paint and rusted the metal. For those looking to buy a second hand S2k, if the brake booster is covered in rust / black paint is missing, this is most likely the reason.
If this ever happens to you, spraying some Brakeleen onto the area (it gets behind the reservoir attachment into the brake booster) followed by a quick rinse with some water (there's a drain hole in the corner firewall / fender area) to get it off, followed by WD40 and a few wire brushes to get in all those weird angles, this took a good 2-3 hours to cleanup and get all the rust off and make sure all the clutch fluid was rinsed out of the entire area and car. This picture is 18 months after the fix, still has some dialectic grease I put on and there has been no rust since.
Upon further inspection it seems the fluid is just passed the max line on the clutch reservoir. It’s just above the “Saturn” lip that protrudes around the reservoir. I assume this amount is okay?
Also, it seems that there is a fluid like substance under the clutch reservoir on the paint on the bottom right around the drain hole on the fender liner. I’m worried this is the fluid spillage from when the mechanic filled the clutch reservoir. I can’t get to it to inspect, I can’t reach it. How do I clean it!??? It’s been there over a week now since I took it for the fluid change, just noticed.
06-23-2019, 04:15 AM
Clutch Fluid Passed MAX line
