focus clutch- leaky m/c straight after a clutch fitted

[steveo3002]

had our mk1 focus in for a clutch 2 weeks ago, 3 piece clutch fitted and all good

mrs has been driving it sinse , but today i went to and the matt is soaked with brake fluid

what im asking is , would the garage have touched the m/c at all ? seems a bit iffy its gone so soon

need to have a look in the morning , just wanted to know if they might have disturbed a fitting or such like - not looking to blame anyone just hoping its something innocent

 

[66-V8]

'Women'

Bless....

 

[steveo3002]

i thought it was rain she says

 

[gordon stephenson]

Maybe the extra pressure of the new springs in the cover plate could have been the final straw to an older master cylinder?

 

[rikrobson]

the clutch fitting is a push fit and clip on the clutch end and easily swings out of the way. There's no need to go near the M/C.
one posibility is that it got dry when the clutch was changed and that damaged the seal. but thats only speculation and seems unlikely. I've changed plenty of ford clutched without a problem with the M/C.

they usually feed of a line near the top of the resovoir so if it is leaking then the level will have gone down.

You'll need a visual inspection of the M/C to check though. if the matt is soaked it seems stange and the volume that could potentially leak is quite small.
Could the fliud have come from elsewhere?

 

[steveo3002]

just pulled the dash undertray and its leaking ...so hey ho just a coincedence i guess

any tips for doing the job folks? 1600 mk1.5

 

[evobilly666]

Is it concentric slave on them? If so, I was always told to change them whilst you are in there as it is likely they will fail soon after. Like changing a water pump whilst doing the timing belt on many engines. I changed the gearbox on my old vectra, fitted a new clutch and against advice refitted the old slave. Three days after battling with getting that nasty subframe complete with engine and box back in, my left foot went straight to the floor. I felt like starting it in gear and aiming it at a tree.

Then if its definitely the mc leaking im talking out of my exhaust pipe anyway.

 

[steveo3002]

is a concentric slave yes....had the garage fit one with the friction parts

i will tackle the m/c myself though

 

[HockeyNomad]

Mk1 focus master cylinders are known to weep when they've expired Not seen a catastrophic failure of one personally.

As said above if you change the clutch without fitting a new slave you will have the gearbox back out before the next clutch is due.

As far as the garage touching the M/c for a clutch change then other than using into bleed the line no they don't touch it. just pump fluid with it, so if it's failed it's just very unfortunate timing. my opinion only though.

 

[HockeyNomad]

Also if they fitted a new slave cylinder then the new weak point could have been the master cylinder, so the fluid will come out the master instead of the old slave if you get my jist

 

[steveo3002]

or do you think pressure bleeding might have pushed the worn seal into leaking ?

 

[bricol]

One garage I used ot use used to claim failure of master cylinders after clutch or brake work and fit a new one . . . the claim being the process of bleeding the system dragged the seals inside further down the master cylinder than usual operation did, over rusty unused parts of the cylinder bore, damaging the seals . . .

While plausible, I'm not sure I believed it, as until then I'd never had any problems . . .

 

[LewisT]

Not a terrible job to do, got a pagid replacement off euro/carparts4less, there is two pipes that go through the engine bay at the back of the engine two circlips then pull off, you need to undo the steering colomn at one on the ujs, then i think is was one bolt 8mm or 10mm spanner size help if you have a ratchet spanner took me ages without, then just wiggle it out never had much bother bleading it but heard others moaning about them. i changed the clutch on mine at 110k miles the master lasted till about 140k, surprised it lasted that long whole thing is plastic

 

[steveo3002]

yeah got it done , not too bad at all

only agro is you have to take the battery and tray off to get at the bleed nipple , used a syringe to push the fluid up and it worked first time