Clutch squeak /fluid turned black
 

Went to a 2 day track day. Just noticed clutch squeak and checked fluid. Castrol fluid was used before the event and now it's black and slightly frosty. The master and slave were installed this season and have 6 track events. I believe the master and slave were Exedy replacements. Are there bushings on the pedal assembly. Hate to dive under the dash as the race seat and cage makes it very difficult. Any advice before before I order new slave and master?

Suck out the fluid, wipe out the reservoir, then bleed it. The squeak, if it is in the pedal assembly, won’t fix itself if you don’t lubricate it. Get your ass under the dash and spray some lube one it.

Will do the fluid flush after extraction. Do the plastic bushings holding the pedal pivot point fail from hard track use? Mine likely are over 100k of street use by previous owner. Since i have to dive under the dash is it worth replacing these plastic bushings ?

Non-OEM Master? We have a rash of issues at this moment. I went to
OEM master and slave. Will report.back in 2 years

Non OEM. Looking at mazda motorsports parts store now for oem

Any time I've flushed my clutch fluid, it has turned black within days/weeks even with a new MC. I would check for leaks and if it's buttoned up tight, lube any pivot points in the pedal assembly and send it.

Turns out my crunching squeak sound is from the Throw out bearing. I installed new Supermiata kit and have 8 track days on this. Clutch dust likely is the culprit.

It's a weird coincidence that I am currently looking at the Arca_ex build thread for oil cooler ideas in the turn signal as I receive your response.

And how exactly is clutch dust getting inside a hydraulic system where the only open part is the reservoir on the firewall, and the slave cylinder is outside the bell housing with a rubber boot protecting the bore of the cylinder where there are more seals inside as well?

I was making a presumption. It could be that the shaft where we put some lube before installing new Throw out bearing has dried..

Same here. I don't worry about dark clutch fluid anymore.

Mine and a buddy's theory is that clutch slave isn't sealed very well (part of the reason they fail often) Over time is just picks up dirt as is moves back and forth and it gets into the slave cylinder and into the fluid.

I flushed the fluid - while the crunch/squeak was coming from the inside of the trans near the fork, the new fluid for some reason lessened the noise. Perhaps it was the slave ..

Okay, 3-year report (wow, to the day, but a year late): OEM Master and Slave doing fine with 949 organic clutch on 1.8. Fluid is black. As 3-years old, I'll change it soon.

DNM