I did my auto to manual swap approx. 4K miles (roughly 12 months) ago. I bled my brakes and (obviously) my clutch at the same time using a lab vacuum pump.

The brake fluid looks like it aged appropriately (slightly golden brown), but the fluid in the CMC reservoir looks almost black. I used Valvoline DOT 3/4 at the time (from Advance), and the caps on both reservoirs are tight and in good condition.

Anything to be concerned with? Clutch is otherwise functioning fine.

 

Well, the picture makes the brake fluid look worse than the clutch....


If you see this in person, the brake fluid looks almost like EVOO, and the cluth fluid really does look black.

 

I'm assuming you bought all the parts used, rather than brand new. It wouldn't surprise me if the previous owner of said parts didn't take care of them for ****, so the darkness you're seeing is probably just old residue. It's nothing to be concerned about, but it also wouldn't hurt to flush the system again with some fresh fluid.

 

looks fine . do you have any brakes problems?

the clutch fluid looks fine nothing to concerned about .

 

There is a mix of used and new parts:

- The CMC and slave cylinder are brand new Exedy parts (OEM equivilent).

- The hydraulic lines are 100% brand-new Honda OEM (bought from dealer).

- The CMC reservoir is used OEM, but was cleaned with brake cleaner.


(The transmission, shift linkage and shifter are used, but I don't think this is germane to the problem. Clutch, FW and pressure plate are also new Exedy OEM equivalent parts).

 

If its that big of a deal, just re bleed them. How much total fluid does that take roughly anyway?? not too much. Like others said though if no shift/pedal problems occur then your most likely good. But for piece of mind I would just keep bleeding till its clean.

 

I wouldn't be concerned. It can get much darker than that.

 

^^ agreed.. if it bothers you, siphon most of it out, and fill it then bleed the clutch till you dont see it anymore.

 

Nah, it's no biggie. I just wanted to make sure it's not contaminated or overly oxidized.

The pictures are deceptive, as the clutch reservoir really does look inky black. One would think the brake fluid would age faster than the clutch, but reading up on this "problem" (if you call it that), it's apparently normal.

 

Just flush it until clean.

 

Don't worry about it, it's just rubber from the cup in the master cylinder that's turning the fluid black.

 

+1

Bottle of Dot 3, a buddy and 10-15 minutes should take care of the merky fluid.

 

Part of its job is to hold contaminants in suspension.