ST1300 Clutch leak?

[carldavis65]

Hello all. Got on the bike to leave for work today, and it seemed the clutch didn't want to release, even with the lever pulled all the way in. I opened the cap, and sure enough, the fluid was low.

Any ideas as to what my issue might be? I'm hoping to find someone that says, "just tighten this, that's what I did, and the bike has been great", because the service manual says to remove the engine to replace the slave cylinder. That's beyond my abilities.

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[Igofar]

Remove lower left side cowl and flush/bleed clutch.
Unless there is a puddle under your bike, this should probably resolve your problem.
15 minute job, a 10mms wrench and a screw driver will take care of it.

 

[dduelin]

Fluid low or almost gone? Unlike a brake system reservoir the fluid should never drop to low level in the clutch reservoir unless there is a leak. The slave cylinder is located in a difficult location to get at but contrary to the service manual it can be removed and replaced with the engine in place. We know several ST-O members that had to do this repair. A slow leak of hydraulic fluid evaporates in the super heated location of the slave before making its presence known by a puddle.

A flush and bleed of the fluid is worth a try. A very slow leak may not cause the problem of no clutch to reappear for a long time.

The brake caliper bleeders are 10mm but IIRC the clutch bleeder is 8mm.

 

[Igofar]

Fluid low or almost gone? Unlike a brake system reservoir the fluid should never drop to low level in the clutch reservoir unless there is a leak. The slave cylinder is located in a difficult location to get at but contrary to the service manual it can be removed and replaced with the engine in place. We know several ST-O members that had to do this repair. A slow leak of hydraulic fluid evaporates in the super heated location of the slave before making its presence known by a puddle.

A flush and bleed of the fluid is worth a try. A very slow leak may not cause the problem of no clutch to reappear for a long time.

The brake caliper bleeders are 10mm but IIRC the clutch bleeder is 8mm.

Good advice Dave, but you got the sizes backwards....the brake bleeders are 8mm and the clutch is 10mm.

 

[carldavis65]

Thanks Dave. I will give that a try. We will be leaving for a trip to the Smoky Mountains and was planning to take the bike so we can ride some of those legendary mountain roads. This scared me, because I thought our plans to ride were in jeopardy.

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[Me_cmc]

I have same issue. Lost the clutch first about 2000 miles ago, dealer wanted to replace the slave, but I had them just flush & fill. Has worked fine with two top-offs. A mechanic I trust said that the brake fluid may be ending up in the crankcase after it leaks into the clutch which is bathed by the engine oil, but it's probably not too big of a deal since it may be a couple/few ounces of brake fluid in a gallon of oil. I have an emergency back-up bike (Suzuki SV1000S), so I'll probably take it to that mechanic soon and have it checked out.

 

[dduelin]

Good advice Dave, but you got the sizes backwards....the brake bleeders are 8mm and the clutch is 10mm.

Thanks for correcting me Larry. I can never remember which is which.

 

[steve853]

I had the exact same issue, slave cylinder seals gone hard after years of service. I got mine done under warranty luckily.

For a guy with big hands the easiest option is engine out, but if you search on this forum there is a thread form someone who did the job with the engine in the frame. Helps to have small hands/ access to child labour though!

 

[sah48]

WOW. What a coincidence!
i logged on tonight to see if there was anything on the forums about missing clutch fluid!
I bought the 2005 ST1300 in April with about 21,140 miles on it. I noticed the clutch fluid was low and sorta nasty so I topped it off, planning on getting to a flush later this spring. Tonight on my way home from work I noticed the fluid is low in the sight glass and was wondering where it went. I have only put about 1400 miles on it so far. Sounds like I really need to do the flush process and see what happens before I dig any deeper.

 

[Techi]

I had the unfortunate task of having to remove slave cylinder a couple of weeks ago and after much reading decided I would attempt without removing the engine. So yes its possible to do and with big hands however I had to modify a spanner from two to help with the job. I used a mixture of center stand and side stand purely for reach ability purposes and I drained oil and removed oil filter. The attached pictures if people fancy making this for themselves will save an aching heart, just forgive my welding as this is something I don't do well but the end result is my clutch is back to normal and I'm back on the road
Hope it help someone.

 

[SMSW]

I had the unfortunate task of having to remove slave cylinder a couple of weeks ago and after much reading decided I would attempt without removing the engine. So yes its possible to do and with big hands however I had to modify a spanner from two to help with the job. I used a mixture of center stand and side stand purely for reach ability purposes and I drained oil and removed oil filter. The attached pictures if people fancy making this for themselves will save an aching heart, just forgive my welding as this is something I don't do well but the end result is my clutch is back to normal and I'm back on the road
Hope it help someone.

Good fix - question.
Was the box wrench you used bent like that or did you heat a standard (straight) box wrench and bend the handle 90 degrees?

 

[Techi]

Just a standard wrench or spanner as we call it in ireland, put it in vice applied heat and a hammer.

 

[MaxPete]

I had the unfortunate task of having to remove slave cylinder a couple of weeks ago and after much reading decided I would attempt without removing the engine. So yes its possible to do and with big hands however I had to modify a spanner from two to help with the job. I used a mixture of center stand and side stand purely for reach ability purposes and I drained oil and removed oil filter. The attached pictures if people fancy making this for themselves will save an aching heart, just forgive my welding as this is something I don't do well but the end result is my clutch is back to normal and I'm back on the road
Hope it help someone.

Thanks Techi - this is a very useful contribution to solving a challenging problem. Im goi g to file those photos away carefully.

Can you tell us what size wrenches (spanners) you had to modify?

Pete

 

[Igofar]

You need an 8mm wrench or small socket. It appears he bent and welded his 8mm bmw spanner to his 10mm bmw spanner.
Good job in finding a solution to your issue mate.

 

[Techi]

@Igofar you are correct it was two wrenches 8mm and 10mm I was prepared to lose if it all went wrong. However you will see from the end of the unwelded part of the10mm I have cut the head off as it would have been to long. The 10mm could just as easily been a piece of any narrow rod it was just was I had spare and about the right size so it suited at the time. The 8mm was again handy because it an open wrench at weld point so just made for easy assembly. Hope that makes sense I can try give approx measurements in the morning but really once you have the 8mm wrench the rest can be made from what you have lying about just try keep it narrow and strong for opening nuts.

 

[Techi]

Had it handy and placed against ruler hope it sheds light.

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