clutch 'snapped,' mystery fluid drained all over floor

[kimbo305]

I go to start my car and push the clutch in. It makes a plasticky / springy snap or click sound about an inch down, and then gives. I carefully try again, and the same noise happens. This time I see fluid pouring from a leak that's sprung somewhere between the brake pedal and the clutch pedal.
I managed to catch about half of the fluid in my water bottle, and have a picture. As you can see, it's water soluble, for what that's worth. The leak stopped shortly.



If it helps, I can try to get underside pics of where the leak sprung from.

Thing I've done to the car that might be related:
- new Spec clutch kit installed several hundred miles ago
- brakes bled and topped up with new fluid about a week ago

Any strong clues on what this is? I'm ready to tow either to my local mechanic or to a Ford dealership to get this taken care of, depending on the severity / expertise needed to fix it.

[orionlion82]

chuck the nalgene - brake fliud is poisonus.

[ladybug04]

you probably broke the clutch master sylinder, the fluid there is clutch/brake fluid. the focus uses the same resevior for both of them.

and definitely chuck that water bottle!!!

[kimbo305]

I can hear gurgling when I listen through the brake fluid reservoir, so pretty sure it's the clutch/brake system. Is the master cylinder something that any mechanic can put in? Or should I do it with Ford experts?

[AAA'S ZX4]

If you trust them then yes take it to them its not that bad of a job so they should be able to do it.

[kimbo305]

survey picture of area:

Note oil on the clutch pedal arm. Oil was still dripping from that metal box with the plastic tab and hole toward the bottom.

just showing the extent of oil on the clutch pedal arm:


Oil had coated that plunger pad mounted to the left of the pedal arm, i think splashed from below:


That metal box (possibly a fitting from the master cylinder) was just covered in oil, and was still dripping it:

[kimbo305]

Originally Posted by AAA'S ZX4

If you trust them then yes take it to them its not that bad of a job so they should be able to do it.

Wolud be a good way to save on parts costs, too, assuming I can get a master cylinder from Tousley Ford.

[cjmartinyzx3]

i will guarantee that you broke the clutch master cylinder. its not complicated its just time consuming and hard to get to.

[kimbo305]

Is the master cylinder a wear and tear item? I haven't abused the car in my short time with it, but don't know about before. But I have heard that it's weak on SVTs/Foci.

Also, what parts (at minimum) would I need to buy if it's the master cylinder? I heard the slave and master are integrated?
Would I need a replacement throwout bearing for my aftermarket clutch?

[ladybug04]

i believe you should be good with just a new master cylider, you definitely wont need to do anything with your throwout bearing, and BTW what clutch do you have? as that may be why this happened

[kimbo305]

Originally Posted by ladybug04

BTW what clutch do you have? as that may be why this happened

I didn't really pursue this line of thinking. I had a Spec Stage 2 clutch kit put in by McNew's.

What makes everyone so sure it's the master and not the slave that's broken itself? An OEM master cyl would be cheap to replace, but I'm a slave cyl and Spec stage 2 throwout bearing is gonna be a lot more.

[ladybug04]

slave cyl is inside the tranny, if the fluid is down by the clutch pedal, its the master cylinder

bryan

[sporadic]

Definitely clutch master cylinder.
Not all that difficult to replace.
Just remember to bleed the brakes and clutch afterwards.
Good luck

[kimbo305]

I got the car back today. It was just a 2 hour job for the mechanic, so pretty straightforward. He remarked that my aftermarket clutch seemed too high pressure for my master cylinder, and that that alone could cause it to bust prematurely once more.

The clutch is a Spec Stage 2 kit that's designed for the SVT Focus, at least fitment wise. Is there any reason to believe that Spec wouldn't have factored in wear and tear on the master cyl?

On another note, the car is a bit more driveable because there's more feel to the clutch now.