Noticed that I had Pentosin on the plastic next to my battery - opened the lid and it appears to have leaked from the reservior with the green tag. Its no to bad of a spill but I've read a lot about it causing fires due to it being spilled on the wires under. Is there an efficient way to clean this stuff off without causing a short due to water on the wires?

 

No really efficient way to clean it - take off the side covers and clean underneath with a mild solvent. It usually runs down the hole under the reservoir, so it's on the plastic tray underneath. To clean that, put the car on jackstands, slide underneath and pop off the spring clips - there are 6 or 8 of them. Take out the tray can clean with the same solvent.

Now, you have to deal with the cause, which is almost certainly the clutch accumulator going bad. You should have the slave cylinder replaced at the same time. This is a problem that many have had on this car, and yours is the first symptom. Next comes the stiff clutch.

Jon

 

Thanks, Jon.

Can you recommend a solvent? There is not a whole lot that spilled over.

I have read about the actuator issues as well. I'm still hoping the dealer just accidentally overfilled as it has not blown over since the fluid was extracted back down to the max level.

Fortunatly my clutch feels good though it is somewhat stiff to push. I'm assuming it is pretty stiff stock compared to most cars. Is that right?

 

Well, good luck with that. I hope that you are right, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I've attached the manual pages below for testing the clutch hydraulics. It gives you a test for determining the health of the accumulator that is pretty easy to do - you only need to be able to count.

It also describes how to set the fluid level properly, which is not so simple.

It suggests cleaning up the Pentosin with water. You might try that, or maybe some water with a little car wash soap. It's pretty sticky when it dries out.

Jon

 

This could also just be the cap to the coolant fill tank. I had a slight leak and bought the updated cap and haven't seen coolant since.

 

well if the clutch is hard, it is the accumulator since the clutch on those is the easiest i have ever felt. If it it somewhat hard, bad accumulator or you have a GT2 conversion (which i doubt)

 

What are your thoughts on using something like a engine bay cleaner to breakdown whats left of the Pentosin.

My only concern is that what is left is on some electrical wireing (such as the wiring to the horn) and I'm not sure I want to start spraying all of that down with water with risk of doing more harm than good.

Is this something that can wait a week for the dealer to check it out or is this stuff so corrosive that it will cause permanent damage in that time frame?

 

If it were me, I'd use a paper towel wet with water, or maybe some windex. The volatile, flammable stuff is probably long gone by now. The fire that people refer to came when Mike Kelly's accumulator let go and dumped Pentosin on the hot exhaust manifold.

 

My clutch accumulator and slave cylinder were bad which leaked pentosin in that same area for me a couple months ago. I changed both of them in my garage. about 3-4 hours.

The fluid I cleaned up with simple green and also removed the underbody plastic cover to clean that area off as well where it had leaked out.

I then went over all of it with soap and water. Pentosin cleans up pretty well and mine was very messy.

Best of luck with the fix,
Bryan

 

Had a 250 mile drive home today and no more Pentosin leak. Think this means I am clear or does the spill over come and go?

 

Did you do the accumulator test?

 

Thanks for the document, I did give it a shot. The pedal was certainly harder to push after 20 or so clutch engagements but then seemed to then get softer for a few, then more difficult again. It was very hard to push by the time I got to 40.

The document you attach stipulates 35 engagements as the cut off so Im going to give it a try again this evening or tomorrow after its had some time to sit.

 

I think temperature is important. The manual says 20 deg C. If this passes the test, maybe it was just the cap. Hope so!

 

I too was hoping that my accumulator was not gone after cleaning up a front reservoir overfill. Cleaned it up, lowered the level and it slowly filled up over a couple of weeks and spilled over again!
So I ripped it all out and did the gt2 conversion. Couldn't be happier with the results.

 

GT2 conversion FTW.