I took my car in for a new tyre and also got the tracking done. When the car was up on the ramps I noticed a lot of fluid on the passenger side of the engine under pannel.

On looking from above, it appeard to be coming from near the clutch assembly - from a black plastic cylinder with at one hydraulic pipe coming into the side, and something connecting to the far end of it.

It has on the top of it a VW symbol followed by: 1JO 721 261D

I have some pictures... will post them later.

Oh and when the gf drove it between me spotting the fluid and then seeing the above mentioned item, when coming down from Portland (steep hill) the hand brake light came on and it beeped (low fluid warning...)

Any ideas on what this part is, and how easy it is to replace / cost / etc?

That sounds like its the clutch slave cylinder. The part is about £40 and fitting should be about an hour or so. Its is possible to DIY but bleeding the system is difficult without a pressure bleeder.

It's the clutch slave cylinder. That particular part number has been deleted but there are quite a few later ones, eg 1J0 721 261D. Check with a Skoda dealer as to which one you need. I think the price is circa £50 and they don't take all that long for a dealer to change.

At least I got the right answer. Still working on typing faster. :(

mmmm!

When I had the clutch replaced (just after I bought the car) my local skoda dealer advised the clutch peddle might slick down, which it did. The dealer (non-skoda) who sold me the car (and sorted the clutch) then also changed either the master or slave? Which would that have been? this was done about a year ago.

At least that saves me from getting the pictures off the camera. Well that said, I'll do it anyway - just to make sure!

I assume that as long as I keep the car topped up with brake fluid it should be ok to drive? (or at least to a dealer?)

Cheers!

Matt

My 2002 4X4 suffered from the well-known 'sticking clutch pedal' problem which was fixed under warranty with a modified clutch master cylinder.

The fluid will drop very quickly if the clutch is leaking. But as the clutch take off is quite high up on the reservior the clutch will fail before you run out of brake fluid.

Here are some pictures.... just to comfirm!

Yeah thats the slave cylinder.

Cool... thanks for the confirmation! I'll give a couple of dealers (Westover & Yeovil) a ring tomorrow and see how much!

My father has a pressure bleeding kit, but my Haynes manual has not arrived yet. But that said it did not look overly difficult to access and therefore I assume removal is not toooooo difficult!

I assume the fluid should only be leaking out when the cylinder is under pressure (ie. foot on the clutc)?

Cheers!

Matt

Once you have access to it you just need to undo the two 13mm bolts holing it in and disconnect the clutch pipe. The pipe is a push fit but to remove it you need to lift the metal clip up, this will be obvious when you have the new one.

Being quoted £34+vat (or 27.20+vat from Westover as the owe me a deal!) and another £63+vat for the fitting.

I think I will collect the part from Yeovil and fit it at my parents over the w/e using my fathers pressure bleed kit. Also gives me a chance to change the brake fluid.