HI all, while doing some maintenance I noticed what looks to be brake fluid (yellow, slippery) on the bottom of the wheel well in front of the drivers side rear wheel. I took the wheel well covering off and pulled down the bottom trim that attaches from front wheel well to rear wheel well. There was a a minor amount of fluid in the trim and some drips were on the garage floor. I see some lines in there but nothing seems to be leaking. Any thoughts?

 

Probably Pentosin from your clutch master cyl reservoir. check it out under the plastic cover under the hood just above the r=drivers seat. if it is overflowing thern your clutch master cylinder is toast. Possibly some leak from one of the PSM or Anti-lock units. pull the plastic covers off under the front hood and take a look

 

I'll check it out but I understood that the symptom for that was a leak in front of the front left wheel. Mine is in front of the rear left wheel.

 

Checked the reservoir and all looks good (see pic), though level is a bit low. I've never checked it before but noticed the power steering reservoir in the back is low too. Interesting. The leak is at the front of the left rear tire, shown here after I cleaned most of it up. After getting under there I can see there are a few lines in that area. I'll pull off the bottom skirt and see what's up.


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I just had the same thing happen to me. It was that green hard line for the clutch. Right where it's slightly exposed it had developed a leak. Also caused the master cylinder to fail to for some odd reason.

 

Thanks s65e90. Checking it out later today. Did you DIY the line and cylinder. I see from the videos that the master cylinder replacement DIY looks like a major pain in the butt

 

It's not hard at all, just very awkward to work under the dash and reach everything. It's just 2 10mm bolts holding the clutch master in place then it pops out with 2 small blue clips. Get yourself a Motive pressure bleeder if you don't already have one for the bleeding process as that can be a real pain, moreso than the repairs themselves.

 

I'll check into the pressure bleeder. Thanks for the tips. It was the slave cylinder that looked like a pain.

 

By the way, how did you diagnose the master cylinder as the issue?

 

After I replaced the line, I spent 3 days bleeding the system and could not get any pressure back into the clutch. The clutch master was only 3 years old ( all gt2 parts conversion) so I didn't think it would be bad, but instinct told me it had to be the reason for no pressure especially after bleeding properly for so long. Put a new master in and the clutch pressure came right back up. I cut the old one open and found tiny pieces of plastic broken off the diaphragm which was not allowing the master to work as it should.

 

I spent a ton of time today tearing off the bottom of the car and inspecting everything and then cleaning everything to make sure I'd see it if another leak happens, then it dawned on me. The converitble top is also hydraulic and its cylinders are directly above the front of the rear wheel wells. A video I found on youtube confirmed my symptom that it is indeed a leaking cylinder. A new cylinder is $700 on pelican ($1200 from the dealer installed), this guy in the video rebuilds them for $235 each and you can buy a kit (100% satisfaction rating) on ebay for $35 including shipping. Simple DIY. I haven't torn it apart yet but bought the kit anyway.

 

I have used Zig at Cabriolet Hydraulics. He upgrades the cylinders. I highly recommend him. I did this about 4 years back - no issues still.

 

Thanks Stebo I DIY everything I can so I'll be doing the rebuild myself. For $35 bucks, I've saved enough to add a Markski tune to my xmas list. This is what I call 'justification math' for my wife. The kit includes all of the pic tools required and a manual. The ad https://www.ebay.com/itm/273328486330 notes that its a simple project and a lifetime fix as it uses higher quality rings. Stay tuned.