Hey folks. So my 2002 Focus did something weird. Seems that there is clutch fluid leaking under my dashboard. Yup, inside the car. It's dripping out from what looks like a 1½" diameter by 2" long black case with a plastic white plunger. The plunger is attached to my clutch pedal and inserts into the case when I press in the clutch. The oil is dripping onto my foot, all down the pedal and onto my floor mat.
Minor side effect: the oil gets under the rubber of the pedal somehow and makes my foot slip around. Now I've ripped the rubber foot grip. Great.
I had the mobile mechanic at my work look at it and he scratched the top of his head wondering what it was. The clutch reservoir is still under the hood these days, right? I think I see it there. So what is this leaky thing?
It will be the clutch master cylinder leaking. The seal will be leaking and the fluid is coming back along the shaft and on to the clutch pedal.
In theory you should be slowly losing fluid from the clutch reservoir. Have you had to top it up recently?.
A new Clutch master cylinder is probably needed for this repair and shouldn't be too difficult to fit.
__________________
Lance
71 429SCJ Mustang
Last edited by Big Block Ford; 11-26-2008 at 11:37.
So I took it to my real mechanic. Yup, it's either the clutch master cylinder or the clutch slave cylinder -- or maybe just a tube between them. Will take care of that next week.
My 10-year-old at the time 1979 Datsun 210 went nearly 150K miles without many issues at all... until I crashed it. But my 6-year-old Focus is having issues at less than half the miles. Sad.
The master cylinder is under the hood but the shaft that runs through from the pedal is the connection into the cylinder. If the seal leaks then it can run along the shaft and into the inside of the car. It will not be the slave cylinder as that is down near the gearbox.
It is sad that it has failed so early compared to the Datsun but someone else may have a Focus master cylinder that will last for 20 years as well. I'm afraid it is the way it goes.
Sounds like the master cylinder. I have seen cases where the master cylinder (located under the hood) sprang a leak that came out where the pedal push rod connected to it, resulting in the fluid leaking into the interior of the car.
From the looks of the master cylinder for the 02 Focus, the hydraulics are located on the inside of the firewall with the reservoir located on the outside. Weird...Crappy...
Okay, so assuming it's the seal leaking. Where is that seal? Is it where the white plunger arm goes into the cylinder or where the black tubes connect to the green ones? In either case, is that repairable or will I need to just replace the whole piece?
From the looks of the master cylinder for the 02 Focus, the hydraulics are located on the inside of the firewall with the reservoir located on the outside. Weird...Crappy...
That is a little weird lol but I guess it is still the same situation.
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Focus Barfed on my Foot
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