# Can any maintenance be done to prevent the "Clutch sticks to the floor" Slave cylinder issue?



## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Probably nothing to be done other than paying to have the slave cylinder changed. The slave cylinder is the issue, and it might shed debris into the clutch/brake system (they share a hydraulic fluid reservoir).


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

Barry Allen said:


> Probably nothing to be done other than paying to have the slave cylinder changed. The slave cylinder is the issue, and it might shed debris into the clutch/brake system (they share a hydraulic fluid reservoir).


Thanks for that info Barry, I was reading up on your quest and what you had to go through in a previous thread. I was hoping by keep fresh fluid available it might mitigate the issue, but by the sounds of it the slave itself is shedding the debris.... So far I am OK...Maybe it being a very early build 2016.5 I wont ever have the issue, lol, who knows if they changed anything through the years..


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

6Speed2016LT said:


> Maybe it being a very early build 2016.5 I wont ever have the issue, lol, who knows if they changed anything through the years..


There is no formal 2016.5 model year. The 2nd generation Cruze was a delayed introduction, but they are all 2016 model year. The TSB on the subject lists model years 2016-2018, so your car has the defective part (slave cylinder) installed.


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

Barry Allen said:


> There is no formal 2016.5 model year. The 2nd generation Cruze was a delayed introduction, but they are all 2016 model year. The TSB on the subject lists model years 2016-2018, so your car has the defective part (slave cylinder) installed.


I guess its just a matter of time then, I will just keep on driving it as normal I guess! Thank you for the info..

Jason


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

You can preemptively replace the clutch fluid/accumulator line in hopes of staving it off, but it's pretty much a 100% failure rate part.


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

I booked an appointment with my dealer next Tuesday to get a thorough bleeding of the clutch fluid and put in fresh DOT-3. I am good friends with the service advisor and asked him to make sure the tech really bleeds it good...lol As is run several litres of fluid through it, hopefully cleaning out any debris that may be trapped in there...

It may help, it may not, but at least I know I have done all I can to try and mitigate the failure. I would do it myself but it too **** cold outside here now in Canada to do it.

Jason


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## SilveradoWTRT (May 10, 2020)

What I wonder is if there is a way to possibly get the problem to occur sooner without it looking like it was intentional. I want it to happen under warranty not out of warranty.


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

SilveradoWTRT said:


> What I wonder is if there is a way to possibly get the problem to occur sooner without it looking like it was intentional. I want it to happen under warranty not out of warranty.


My Powertrain Warranty is up in June, so not a whole lot of time left. I am even hoping if the dealer does the clutch bleed/flush it may break loose some of the debris and cause it to fail sooner rather then later. And by them doing the clutch service pre-emptively it will look much better and be less hassle to get the major repair fixed...

Jason


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## 17Hatch6MT (Dec 28, 2015)

[Rant]


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

When I go next week for the clutch bleed I will speak to the transmission guy, He has been with GM for 25 years at the same dealership and see what he says about it. Up here in Canada the 6MT is super super rare. So of course they have never had a failure come in. When I got my car back in 2016 they had to travel hundreds of miles to get one from a dealer that had it in stock. But the advisor said if it does break down, at least until June when my P/T warranty comes up, they will take care of me. I have been going there since 1992 for vehicles....

I am still trying to figure out where this debris is actually coming from that clogs up the slave cylinder. Is it an internal part thats breaking down and no matter what it will fail. OR, if you keep bleeding the clutch say twice a year, will this prevent it from happening. I dont think anyone can answer that for sure. I will happily pay the dealer their cost to bleed and refill yearly if I have to, if it means it will never fail....

Jason


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

6Speed2016LT said:


> I am still trying to figure out where this debris is actually coming


It's debris FROM the slave cylinder. The slave cylinder does something to where it sheds debris into the hydraulic fluid, so some part of the cylinder is physically breaking down and having small particles break off to be pushed around in the hydraulic circuit.

This debris does three things:
1. It can clog the pipe of the clutch, meaning your clutch pedal will sometimes stick to the floor or will return to the top of travel slower.
2. The slave cylinder itself can fail to work, meaning you step on the clutch and it does nothing. You can't engage gears from a stop, and the only way to get the car moving is to push the gear shift toward 1st gear so the car slowly builds up some speed until it finally falls into 1st gear. Then, to shift between other gears you have to "float" your shifts because the clutch isn't working.
3. The debris can apparently affect the brake system. In Europe, the safety recall on this issue is to replace the ABS controller module. Affected customers over there were reporting they would make slight applications to the brake pedal and the car would not slow down (but firm or panic applications of the brakes still worked). Opel and Vauxhall had the recall to where the ABS controller module is replaced, because apparently the debris affects that part. Here in the USA, it's get screwed because GM doesn't recognize that as a failure.


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

Thanks Barry for that great explanation...so that goes back to my point about regular clutch fluid replacement. I wonder if doing regular clutch servicing will mitigate this problem? I just went outside and looked at the "bleeder screw" on my 2016, its not a screw at all. There is a green plastic rubber boot that pops off and under that you can see the nipple, but to open it, you simply twist it towards you to open the flow so to speak, no wrench is required. I guess they changed it from earlier models. Makes doing a servicing a breeze...


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Barry Allen said:


> It's debris FROM the slave cylinder. The slave cylinder does something to where it sheds debris into the hydraulic fluid, so some part of the cylinder is physically breaking down and having small particles break off to be pushed around in the hydraulic circuit.
> 
> This debris does three things:
> 1. It can clog the pipe of the clutch, meaning your clutch pedal will sometimes stick to the floor or will return to the top of travel slower.
> ...


I thought debris was from the accumulator in the clutch line TO the slave cylinder?


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

jblackburn said:


> I thought debris was from the accumulator in the clutch line TO the slave cylinder?


The recall in the EU states that it is the slave cylinder itself that is the source of the debris. I trust that information better than I trust the BS coming out of GM.

With the repair on my car, the dealership tells me something that is the exact opposite of the GM TSB, so something is going wrong there and they can't tell me the truth.


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