04 Monaro - bleeding the clutch system?

[anonymous-user]

Hi all. I want to change the fluid in the clutch system as its going black due to clutch plate dust getting in the system - a well known GM clutch issue. I know that there isn't a bleed point at the slave cylinder (great design ..) but I was under the impression that you could change the fluid by sucking out what's in the reservoir with a vacuume pump, and then pumping the clutch pedal. I was expecting to see some fluid squirt out of the pipe from slave that goes to the reservoir, but not a lot seems to be happening as the pedal is pumped. So the only fluid I've actually replaced was what was in the reservoir. I really don't fancy taking the gearbox off to access the slave, so is there any other way of better bleeding the clutch system??

[L2VXR]

I don't think the 04 cars are any different to 05 cars there is a bleed nipple it's just a pain to get at via a hole in the top side of the bell housing once you get to it its pretty much the standard routine but it is difficult to say the least. Easier with a pressure type bleeder as you only have to open the nipple and exit the old fluid.

[snowwolf]

I am unsure on this but just my theory, the clutch dust floats in the oil, that is why it ends up in the reservoir and gets thick and black, but it gets to a point where the dust density gets thicker and just ends up filling the whole system with contaminated oil, I used to syringe my old monaro reservoir once a month and fill back up with fresh oil, had done that from 20k miles and the new owner still does it, the car has now covered 100k miles and still has the same clutch system with no hassles, I also used to do it on my vxr8 and never had a problem in 50k miles of ownership, so with my two cars there has never been clutch problems.

A full system flush is always the best option

[anonymous-user]

Ah yes the slave cylinder does have a bleed nipple it's just that it's a right pita to get to!
So a full system bleed is a job for a garage with a ramp. In the mean time I just flush out the reservoir regularly.
New fluid has already picked up some black stuff so something is moving around.
Reason for my query is that I had a bit of trouble with the clutch following the cars winter lay up. The clutch didn't seem to be fully disengaging but it seems ok now. Nothing seems to be leaking out of the bellhousing so fingers crossed

[Mud_]

FWIW I've not had a problem with clutch fluid since fitting the LS7 clutch, which was years ago now. It's still black-ish, but performance seems fine.

[snowwolf]

Blackish means it is contaminated, LS7 clutches still have the problem of the clutch dust getting into the system, best to syringe out the reservoir and put new oil in.

Mud_ said:

FWIW I've not had a problem with clutch fluid since fitting the LS7 clutch, which was years ago now. It's still black-ish, but performance seems fine.

[Mud_]

snowwolf said:

In my experience it went a little black fairly quickly but doesn't noticeably affect performance. Blue fluid makes it a bit harder to see but I'm sure it's darker than fresh. The LS1 clutch had me changing the fluid something like monthly as the pedal would go to the floor. I was under the impression there's not much avoiding the muck ingress due to the way it operates, so maybe it's wrong to chalk the improvement up to the LS7 clutch, but rather the fresh slave.