SM5 Clutch Luck

[Lin]

I'm feeling lucky today. My wife and I had been out for a nice ride for lunch. 2 hour ride to Gorham, Maine and about an 1 1/2 back. I was only 2-3 miles away from home when I first felt something was wrong. The clutch was slipping. I pulled the reservoir cover to find the dark fluid conditions in the photo along with a little bit of sludge. I'll be replacing the clutch fluid sometime in the next few days. I have confidence that will cure my problems.

 

[Chupaca]

Fluids....

good idea to suck out the reservoir fluid and replace with fresh between flushes. Glad you checked :2thumbs:

 

[DrewNJ]

I found nasty fluid in mine last year on a 2 year old machine, it's common. Now I plan on servicing the clutch every winter until it becomes a problem. When it comes time, I'll replace all the rubber parts with Aflas thanks to a good friend who has access to those materials.

The amount of garbage you'll find in there once you siphon out the reservoir will blow you away....Brp used some really crappy soft parts for the clutch.


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[SpyderAnn01]

We saw one that looked like that a few weeks back. It was an 11 also and most likely the fluid had never been changed. What's the maintenance interval on replacing it?

 

[DrewNJ]

We saw one that looked like that a few weeks back. It was an 11 also and most likely the fluid had never been changed. What's the maintenance interval on replacing it?

12k or 2 years

 

[SpyderAnn01]

12k or 2 years

Wow, that's a shorter time than I thought it would be.

 

[Lin]

Wow, that's a shorter time than I thought it would be.

Me too! I was surprised to find such a short interval when I looked into it.

 

[finless]

Did mine at about 8K after reading about how dirty it gets and problems. At 8K mine looked just like that!

Bob

 

[forgiven1823]

Lin or anyone else what type of fluid do you use for the Clutch Reservoir?
Hey Lin I live in Norway and have a SM5 also just got it three weeks ago,
Any Spyder Clubs around Southern Maine you know about?I would like someone for us to ride with from time to time.
Ron


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[JayBros]

Lin or anyone else what type of fluid do you use for the Clutch Reservoir?

Brake fluid, DOT4 is what the operator's guides call for.

 

[Lin]

I used DOT 4 Brake Fluid. I think it is embossed on the reservoir cover as well as specified in the operators manual.
As to southern Maine riding groups, there is a Riding Groups/Clubs listing for Maine. Look in the upper left corner of the Spyderlovers home page. You may find more threads about rides under the Forums tab near the bottom in Spyderlovers Chapters. Maine

Lin

:welcome:

 

[Gordy]

I don't think changing fluid will stop clutch slip ,I had the same problem and what was the problem was the engine breather was plugged and there is too much vacumn to the clutch diaphram.Cleaning breather requires removal of air box ,good luck with fix. :yikes:

 

[Lin]

I replaced the fluid and bled out the system. I did not have a vacuum pump, but I will before I do this again. Anyway, it fixed the problem. We are back on the road and I do not feel any slipping.

Lin

 

[bruiser]

Lin. Get a good pump. Don't get the cheap one in Bob's video. He'll agree with this statement too. My 2012 RTS and my wife's 2010 RTS had the same issues.

 

[spyder47]

Replacement interval?

Have had some "pull" or "creep" in our SM5 for some time - w/ the machine in first at a stop light it would slowly creep forward w/ the lever all the way in. Fluid was as ugly as pics, was about 2 years old. Dealer flushed it and strongly suggested a new plates are in order since this one has 66k on it. But, it no longer "creeps"! Don't want to damage Spydie, or damage more than the plates, but also don't feel the need to reward the dealer any more than necessary. Thoughts?