clutch pressure cylinder of a manual tranny 2000 Civic

Hello,

While doing a minor service, my mechanic found that the master clutch
cylinder (is that the right terminology?) is leaking and needs to be
replaced.

How common is this failure? The car has only 86k miles on it. Also,
what would cause the leak to occur, simple wear & tear or driver's
action?

Thank you.

 

---------------------------------

It _can_ be caused by somebody doing a careless job of bleeding the
brakes. Some will tell you it can't happen. They sometimes fail for no
reason, but yours is LOW mileage.

'Curly'

 

what does brake bleeding have to do with a CLUTCH master cylinder?

hydraulic fluid can absorb moisture and that can cause corrosion in the
aluminum bore of the master cylinder,which wears out the piston seal.
(neoprene plastic?)
I suspect changing the fluid every 5 years might make a difference.

I suppose that the number of times the clutch pedal is operated matters for
seal wear,too. stop n go driving makes you use the clutch a lot more than
cruising mode.

My 94 Integra GS-R needed a clutch master cylinder fairly early in
mileage,but only after ~8 of years of driving.It also needed a brake
master cylinder a couple of years later.(my car only had 59K miles when it
was stolen,stripped and torched in Jun29-07)

 

Yes, but I would rearrange that to say that the "clutch master cylinder" is
leaking.

Grammatically, the subject is the "clutch", while the object is the "master
cylinder".

Both, actually.

If you've never changed the fluid, the seals will wear out in jig time.

If you spend lots of time in city traffic, the pedal gets a lot of pumps,
and each pump is one more scrape of seals against cylinder wall, and thus
that much more wear.

 

is there a recommended mileage or # of months for clutch fluid replacement?

I suspect there is for the brakes.(don't have a owner's manual anymore to
refer to)

 

I'll check later, but don't remember seeing it in the maintenance list.

 

Every three years regardless of mileage for both brake and clutch. They are
constructed the same way and use the same fluid.

This interval assumes the use of genuine Honda brake fluid. If you're using
aftermarket fluid (like I do), you need to change it very year.

 

It's /not/ in there, for some odd reason.

But the brake and clutch mechanisms are the same basic construction and use
the same fluid. The fluids need to be changed at the same time.

 

I'll probably get flamed but I have never changed any of the following in my
car:

Brake fluid
Clutch fluid (dealer didn't even flush this when they did the clutch on
warranty at 170000kms)
P/S fluid
Coolant (I did change 1/2 of it when I did my water pump)

I have also been told by more than one Honda dealer that the above are
considered "Lifetime" fluids. I suppose that means that there is no listing
on the maintenance schedule, so do it as needed.

I have changed:

Engine Oil (every 5000-10000kms) - Mobil 1 synthetic since about 80000kms
Tranny Fluid (Manual trannie, every 50000-75000km) - Honda fluid only

I have a 98 Civic LX Sedan 5spd manual with 283000kms on it.

t

 

The brake fluid is listed as every 3 years in my Si Manual...


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