Bad MC

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <34CB542C.4C9FD776@pobox.com> Jim Griffin writes:

> 1. What are the symptoms of a bad one?

Inability to achieve high gloss shine on left shoe.  Sudden drop of clutch 
pedal,  recovered by putting toe underneath and pulling.  Stains on carpet.

(And no - I'm _NOT_ joking about the shoe!)  

> 2. What fluid does this take, and where is the reservoir located?

Brake (Dot 4) fluid.  On a LHD car, a spur off the brake fluid reservoir.  On a 
RHD car, a tiny reservoir _behind_ the firewall in what we call the 'scuttle'.

> 3. About how long do they last? My QSW has 95k miles on it... is it
> about time for a new one? If so, what's a good price?

120k to 160k miles
 
> I ask because I have a bit of a leak underneath the QSW, and I think it
> may be the clutch MC. (Although, I checked this morning, and there
> wasn't any drops underneath... hmmm... is there such a thing as an
> intermittent leak?)

Clutch m/c doesn't leak outside the car.  It's inside.
 
> I recently changed the gearbox and diff fluid, and I thought that maybe
> it was one of the drain/fill plugs not tight enough, but when I dropped
> by the mechanic's shop, we checked and it wasn't that (at least it
> didn't appear to be... we tightened everything up just to be sure...).

Differential seals?

-- 
 Phil Payne
 Committee Member, UK Audi [ur-]quattro Owners Club