phileaglesfan

Yeah, and those "Japs" dealerships charge an arm and leg for their fluids. Now engine or tranny oil is a different story but I can understand clutch fluid.

Boomer111

That is some nasty looking clutch fluid!

I am surprised...

vettedoogie

What are we in WW2? Japs?
Lots of folks charge too much for fluids...$10.00 or more for a small bottle of the actual GM DOT-4 brake (clutch) fluid is pretty pricey in my book vs $3 for the Prestone that does just fine.

A lot of it depends on where you buy it.

glenB

The 'japs' don't say much different. Spend some time away from the big cities and you might as well have the plague. The older the crowd the less you're liked.

I see everybody is greatly concerned that the dealer didn't have any fluid for his clutch , but how about the fact that the fluid was low and they sent him on his way without doing any diagnosis to determine his fluid loss.

I once took my vehicle in because my turn signals weren't working. They said it needed blinker fluid. Fortunately they had some in stock and fixed my problem.

vettedoogie

I believe clutch fluid loss is a fairly normal occurrence. It was at minimum level, not the bottom.

It is wrong that a GM dealer didn't have the brake/clutch fluid. I have found that the parts department would likely have it even if the mechanics don't. It is also important to remember that the dealer probably only sells 2 or 3 models that even take that even use this kind of clutch fluid.

I don't blame the OP for being very pissed about the 1/2 day off of work for very little if no diagnostic work. Again, as always, we are only hearing one side of the story.

Batman 357

So much for the believers in the bumper to bumper warranty story.

Or sending the car out with the fluid below the min.

RAT

NASTY................

Glad you are in the process of changing it!!!

What can I say, mine looked the same.

glenB

I'll bet it's the same fluid in the whole GM line.

I know having it low can be normal,I just think they could have spent some time looking abit harder, because based on his post, it doesn't appear as though they did. Maybe I'm just reading more into it

Either way, I have plenty of Blinker fluid ....

http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main...&products_id=6

vettedoogie

My point was that there just aren't that many GM vehicles that have a clutch these days. Still, they should have that fluid on hand!

It may be that they really couldn't diagnose much without removing the fluid. If they didn't have any, they couldn't really do much cause they couldn't replace it. Just a thought.

Mykill Myers

Delightful response!

It is 2011 and we should be past using a derogatory term on a message board period.

11LAVette

Agreed! Some of the posts in this forum make me embarrased to be a member of the Corvette "family" of owners.

Polar Jet

Just keep in mind that when you make an appointment with the service department, it is with the service department. Parts has no idea what is going on there. Sure service could have checked to see if parts had fluid but they won't until the car is checked out first.

Being the Corvette parts guy at my dealer I always advice the car club members in my area to contact me and let me know what is going on so I can try to cover my bases just in case. If you were concerned that the dealer may not have had fluid, you should have contacted parts to find out first.

lsbrodsky

A couple of years ago I went to my Chevy dealer to buy GM clutch fluid and they did not have it, but ordered some from the distributor for delivery the next morning. I guess the dealer did not stock it because they do not use much of it or they did not reorder it when they ran out. If they needed it for a car they could have found some at a nearby GM dealer. Doesn't matter, I wasn't in a hurry.
Larry

redzone

Clutch fluid is no more a warrany item than motor oil. Now,had they found a leak that was fixed under warranty,that would be a different story.

IDSRVIT

Nope..... private

lastcowboy

i thought they were all bad.......

KBoltz

That's why I change out my own clutch/brake/oil. Super Blue DOT 4 for the clutch, Motul for the brakes and Mobil 1 for the oil. I stock my own fluids. If a private person can stock fluids on his/her shelf, a dealership should be able to do it as well.

I keep three different kinds of oil (Mobil 1 5w30 for the Vette, 5w20 for the wife's Dodge Ram Hemi and Valvoline Semi-Synthetic 5w30 for the Jeep) on the shelf, enough to do an oil change (and filters) in the garage all the time. It's not rocket science, fer chrissakes. I also keep the power steering fluids for all three, and transmission fluid for all three. The Jeep is the only one I keep diff oil around for, since I use it for hunting/fishing/camping/hiking/skiing.

Anyone want to come over and help me replace the shocks in the Jeep? 6 inches of snow here in Vancouver, BC this morning. You know it's bad when the snowplows were following behind me, to drive in my ruts (big 33 inch mud/snow tires and a four inch lift). Had to swing by and pick up two coworkers to bring them to work this morning.

If the dealership did not have the fluid, they should have sent a parts runner out to pick up a bottle from another dealership. Customer service is the name of the game.

OP - I am assuming you were not using the term Japs in a derogatory way, just as a description alluding to Japanese cars and their parent companies?

CMY SIX

lets see... I open my hood and I see the clutch fluid is low, I add a good DOT three or four fluid and close the hood. the slave cyl is a single action hyd cyl and I know of NO seal in the world that is perfect! in a new cyl the seals need too "seat" just like rings. the amount is so SMALL that you won't see any residue on the bell housing for a long time as it mix'es with the clutch dust inside the bell housing, why do you think the clutch fluid gets dirty? Thats probably your next trip to the dealer or why your motor oil is low in a brand new engine

STEVE MC

I change my own clutch fluid on a regular basis using Ranger's method. Very simple proceedure.

That said I do understand the OP's fustration of the dealership not stocking such a common item.

I took my 2010 Equinox in for an HVAC module recall. I called in advance to make an appointment to change the oil and the wiper blades in addition to the recall. ( I had a gift certificate so it wasn't going to cost me anything). They were very professional, prompt and curtious but they said they couldn't change the wiper blades because they didn't have any in stock. They said they could order them and have them the next day. I said thanks I'll do it myself.

I think in our present economic state no business is stocking too much inventory. It's just the way it is. It cost money to keep inventory on the shelves.

Rule292

Other than the Camaro, the Vette is the only regularly stocked GM vehicle that still offers a manual tranny.

Sadly, I'd expect most GM dealers to not stock the C6's clutch fluid for this reason. It's just a sign of the times.