Clutch fluid replacement

[bruiser]

Replaced the clutch fluid on Bruisersbaby's RT today. It's really not to hard to do. The thing that concerned me most was the sludge and contamination in the fluid. I have enclosed some pictures. The fluid has not been changed prior to this. She has 13,500 miles. It should have been changed at 12,000 or two years. I'm going to keep an eye on it for sure. My RT is next.



Left to right:

Sludge removed from reservoir.

Old clutch fluid.

Flushed fluid.

Paper towels used to clean reservoir.

It shifts a lot better now.

Someone else mentioned contaminated fluid in another thread.

 

[NancysToy]

The usual source of the sludge is the slave cylinder. Rubber from deterioration of the o-rings or aluminum from cylinder/piston wear or scoring. Keep an eye on it, if you begin to have problems shifting, finding neutral, or getting out of gear (especially first or reverse), have it serviced. Complete failure to disengage can happen quite suddenly if you wait too long once it begins to fail functionally, or if you fail to flush it regularly.

 

[rcturner]

A friend and I were in the Black Hills several years ago when his clutch simply refused to dis-engsge. The problem was moisture in the fluid. In the heat and at the higher altitude, the water in the fluid turned to vapor and would no longer actuate the clutch. A late night, parking lot fluid exchange solved the problem. Change your clutch and/or brake fluid often to avoid the moisture problem inherent to brake fluid.

 

[bruiser]

Changed the clutch fluid in my 2012 RTS today. I have 6650 miles on the bike. Although not as dirty as the fluid in BB's 2010, it still had some sludge in it. So now I'm thinking that maybe this may be an inherent trait of synthetic fluid. I find it hard to believe that the slave cylinder could be failing on both Spyders. No offence to Scotty. I have great respect for his level of knowledge.

 

[DrewNJ]

They are probably just normal rubber o-rings, which do not play nice with brake fluid (not many materials do). My plan when I did mine was to pick up some new rubber o-rings, measure them and swap out with viton o-rings which will play nice with brake fluid.
Not taking the Spyder apart unless I have to so this project I will dig into over the winter. I will update anyone that's interested, just let me know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NancysToy]

Changed the clutch fluid in my 2012 RTS today. I have 6650 miles on the bike. Although not as dirty as the fluid in BB's 2010, it still had some sludge in it. So now I'm thinking that maybe this may be an inherent trait of synthetic fluid. I find it hard to believe that the slave cylinder could be failing on both Spyders. No offence to Scotty. I have great respect for his level of knowledge.

It is entirely possible that you are on the right track. I think the diagnosis of possible slave cylinder deterioration may have to be made on the degree of sludge/discoloration. At its worst, I was seeing discoloration throughout the fluid (instead of a layer in the bottom) and a layer of gooey sludge to boot...in as little as 300 miles. It got progressively worse when checked at each oil change (3,000 miles), before the slave had to be rebuilt/replaced. I might add that the earliest RT's seem to have the most trouble with O-rings...perhaps the 0-rings were reformulated somewhere along the line. I think we will have to monitor this phenomenon to learn the degree of discoloration/sludge formation, and to see when to become alarmed. The key, besides regular flushing at least as often as shown in the maintenance schedule, is to notice if shifting becomes difficult, neutral progressively harder to find, or difficulty in getting out of first or reverse. Those are signs of insufficient disengagement, and may well be signs of a need for slave cylinder inspection and service.

 

[bill pitman]

Ah.....

It is entirely possible that you are on the right track. I think the diagnosis of possible slave cylinder deterioration may have to be made on the degree of sludge/discoloration. At its worst, I was seeing discoloration throughout the fluid (instead of a layer in the bottom) and a layer of gooey sludge to boot...in as little as 300 miles. It got progressively worse when checked at each oil change (3,000 miles), before the slave had to be rebuilt/replaced. I might add that the earliest RT's seem to have the most trouble with O-rings...perhaps the 0-rings were reformulated somewhere along the line. I think we will have to monitor this phenomenon to learn the degree of discoloration/sludge formation, and to see when to become alarmed. The key, besides regular flushing at least as often as shown in the maintenance schedule, is to notice if shifting becomes difficult, neutral progressively harder to find, or difficulty in getting out of first or reverse. Those are signs of insufficient disengagement, and may well be signs of a need for slave cylinder inspection and service.

Looks I will be changing my fluid this weekend.....
I have more miles on my Spyder than Bruiser' 1st change he did!
My bad on this,

Bill

PS - I did have my coolant and brake changed in a timely manner though.....

 

[Pappazippy]

Anyone care to give a procedure for changing the fluid? I have read other posts where shifting can be problematic and I'm no exception. Finding neutral is a real pain and when I start my RT SM5 in first I can feel the whole Spyder lurch a bit. I do understand the wet clutch and the principles but I also feel a change of fluids can't hurt.

 

[bruiser]

Thanks Scotty. I agree. I will keep a closer eye on this from now on. The manual calls for the clutch fluid to be replaced every 14,000 miles or two years. Looks like this will be done more often.

 

[NancysToy]

Anyone care to give a procedure for changing the fluid? I have read other posts where shifting can be problematic and I'm no exception. Finding neutral is a real pain and when I start my RT SM5 in first I can feel the whole Spyder lurch a bit. I do understand the wet clutch and the principles but I also feel a change of fluids can't hurt.

Changing fluid is just like bleeding. Bleed until the fluid runs clear. It helps to have a second person to watch the master cylinder level or even pump and fill it. Double protect everything with tarps or plastic...brake fluid is extremely corrosive to paint. If you are the least bit uncomfortable with the procedure, have your dealer do it.

 

[bruiser]

I did my RTS today. Took me a little over an hour. You do have to depanel the left side. You need a bleed tube and a container to bleed the fluid to. I happen to have a vacuum pump kit so that helps. I did it by myself but you should have two people. Like Scotty said, protection is a must just in case you spill some fluid. Don't forget to use DOT 4 fluid. One other thing, the manual says there is a line inside the reservoir indicating the fill level. Don't count on it. I haven't seen one yet.

 

[nhoj]

You do have to depanel the left side.

Isn't it the Right Side panels ??

 

[NancysToy]

Isn't it the Right Side panels ??

Yes.

 

[bruiser]

:shocked: pps: Proof :read: before posting.