Sticky clutch and a leak.. 1996 850 wagon

chrispassmore · Post by **chrispassmore** » 13 Jul 2012, 12:02

Hey everyone,

First of all, thanks...this forum is AWESOME. You all have been really helpful.

Last weekend we took my wife's 1996 850GLT wagon with manual transmission to NY and back (about 450 miles). When I was backing it into the driveway, the clutch stuck to the floor and I couldn't change gears. I popped it back up with my foot and everything was fine.

A few days later I noticed a leak on the stones. It's not oil, it kind of smelled like brake fluid? But it was dry so it's hard to tell..

It stuck one other time with my wife this week in heavy traffic.

Any thoughts of what this could be? Is this something where I can refill the fluid myself? Will the car run ok or am I taking a serious gamble?

Thank you thank you!
Chris

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 13 Jul 2012, 21:10

The clutch runs on brake fluid so everything you post points to a leak in the system. Check around the slave cylinder on the bell housing for a leak in the line or at the end under the dust boot. Also check that the bleeder valve is tight and not leaking.

The brake fluid reservoir is designed to let the clutch run out of fluid well before the brakes - a wise move on the engineering teams part IMHO.

You can top off the brake fluid to keep the clutch working while you search for the leak.

...Lee