Leaking DOT4 from clutch system.

[f_noggle]

Hey guys. Looks like I have yet another bump in the road. Went out to the garage and noticed a nice little puddle of fluid under the bike. DOT4 fluid has leaked from somewhere. My guess is its coming from the slave cylinder as there seems to be no signs of fluid coming down the line, and it's not wet above the slave.

Should I replace the entire slave, or just do a rebuild?
I would love to save a little money and just rebuild, just looking for what may be best.

[navigator]

Quite common, Rebuilds are easy and relatively cheap.
All you need is the internal seal on the piston, you can reuse the piston, spring, rod, banjo washers and external seal.

[Herb]

Considering that it is the clutch I would be more inclined to think it is a leak in the line. When the seal in the clutch on my 87 went bad it was leaking into the crankcase, not the outside of the cylinder.

Before rebuilding the slave find where the leak is coming from or you are wasting money.

[navigator]

He stated " My guess is its coming from the slave cylinder as there seems to be no signs of fluid coming down the line, and it's not wet above the slave."
What usually happens is contaminates in the fluid create small linear grooves on the seal lip, letting fluid pass.

[Herb]

I thought my memory was faulty but I just went and looked at my 1400. The way the slave is bolted in it is sealed to the case, There are 3 places it could be leaking, the bleeder, the banjo fitting or the line. The section of line at the slave is a hard-line encased in a vinyl sleeve. The only other possible cause is a crack in the slave cyl casing.

[navigator]

I'm sure it will be evident upon disassembly.

[f_noggle]

I ordered parts to rebuild. Once they come I will dig deeper to see what's going on with it. Even if it is something else, it isn't terrible to replace some of the 15 year old parts. I feel like this bike has sat most of its life. Sitting around is bad for seals and gaskets, at least that's what I've been told.

[Herb]

There is nothing good about letting a piece of machinery sit idle for long periods of time.