New Year, new bills - CSC location on C30?
 

Not so many weeks ago a dashboard message that brake fluid was low popped up. I checked in to my local garage, the fluid was topped up but with no other symptoms off I went. In the last week the clutch pedal is only returning to halfway,the clutch bite point is nearly on the floor. No slipping clutch but clearly something is amiss. It's booked in Thursday for a 'look at'. I'm guessing it's the CSC unit that's failed, which means a new clutch and DMF if it's located inside the clutch housing. Immediately before the latest symptoms there was a powerful smell similar to BBQ lighter fluid at the end of a couple of journeys, suggesting fluid is leaking out somewhere. With the way my luck is running right now I'm going worst case scenario. Can anyone confirm the location of the CSC on a 1.6D Drive please?

Sorry to hear about that.

It's found inside the gearbox housing. CSC -> Clutch & Drive plate -> DMF

What mileage is your car?

I had signs of CSC issue on my car, its a big job just to check / change so worth doing the whol clutch kit at the same time. Not sure on the lighter fluid smell. Probably a good idea to get a health check on the car.

Scan the bonnet area to see if you can smell / see anything. After your journey, park up on some dry road to see if there are any fluids leaking.

Thank you both for replying.

The car has 96k miles now, all mine. Further confirmation that the issue is hydraulic in nature - depressing the brake pedal while pumping the clutch pedal returns pressure to the clutch. I trust my local garage to advise accordingly but I suspect the chances of a simple and cheap fix to be remote. I've already booked a slot for the following week and got a quote for the whole job to be done. TBF I was anticipating the clutch been the next major job. Would've been nice if it had occurred later in the year but hey ho. Pity about the CSC being inside the housing as the clutch is giving no problem at all.

Fixed?
 

I held off updating this thread as I didn’t want to tempt fate. After a thorough looking at there was no definitive pointer as to what the problem was. There were no leaks apparent and the pedal mechanism appeared in order. We agreed that the first step would be to replace the brake master cylinder and a date agreed. As I left the garage the clutch bite point was still fairly low to the floor. The following day however saw the problem miraculously disappear. Further discussion led to cancelling the proposed work to see how things went. And so far it’s all good. Everything fine and just as before this problem kicked off. I don’t believe that things just fix themselves, but maybe the examination freed something up. Dunno. If there’s any change I’ll return to the thread but right now I’m cautiously happy.

Yeh I would defenitly be very cautious knowing this has happened. Things dont maraculously disappear and you will probably find that down the road the clutch might not come back up again.

Best to change this when you can as it is a failure point on these cars as you wouldnt want this happening in any dangerous situation.

Slightly different car, but I had these symptoms on my previous 850 T5... I bought a CSC, which was luckily external and an easy swap on these cars, arranged to get it fitted and it later turned out to be the hydraulic hose to the CSC... tiny leak from the hose, which gave the exact symptoms.

The clutch slave was changed anyhow since I had bought it, but the hose caused the issue.

Might be worth checking if your car has one.

I chanced my luck and got away with it. Nearly a year after the problem showed up, I’ve finally had the work done. The fault disappeared with the clutch working fine since January, but at the end of last week and conveniently on the drive way, the clutch pedal to all intents remained on the floor when depressed. My excellent local indie booked me in very quickly and loaned a car while the work was being done. It was the CSC that had failed, meaning a big bucks job replacing the DMF clutch and associated hydraulics. Can’t complain, at 100k miles these are the jobs you expect to find sooner or later.

Postscript
 

A couple of days after the clutch repair the symptoms returned, low pedal, slow to return to rest position. The garage had the car straight back and repeated the hydraulic fluid bleed on the system two more times. Apparently there was a lot of crap in the system first time round. This now has completely resolved things and the clutch is working fine.

Given that the symptoms were exactly the same as those which preceded and prompted the work in the first place, it's tempting to think this simple procedure might have been all that was required. For myself I'm not bothered either way. I'd expected to have to fund a new clutch at 100k+ and had budgeted for it. If you're experiencing these issues then an option might be to ask your garage to thoroughly bleed the system through before embarking on more expensive repairs.

The end of 2020 brought some big ticket repairs/maintenance on a car I bought new in 2010 intending to keep it for the long haul. Timing belt, two injectors, new front discs/pads and of course the clutch. It drives like new now. Mind you, if it fails the MOT in March now I'll be sorely tempted to set fire to it!