Clutch fluid! Help please

[nato]

While my brother was doing a bit to my bike the other day he had to bleed my clutch and he only added 30mm of oil but he used brake fluid now i am wondering is this a bad thing or or is it fine to mix this with whatever oil is already in there? Cheers Nato.

 

[gasgasman]

The brake fluid will cause the seals to swell. You can try draining all the fluid and flush with brake clean.

 

[swazi_matt]

yep bad thing to do, hopefully the 30ml will not cause too much effect diluted, you need to use mineral oil (5W fork oil works fine!) in the clutch

 

[nato]

Thanks fellahs will get him to dump it out tomorrow. Maybe i can flush it with baby oil?

 

[jostby]

you don't say what year bike you have. Some years used brake fluid and some mineral fluid. It says what to use on the reservoir lid. You absolutely can't mix the two.

 

[lankydoug]

If you mix brake fluid with oil or the reverse there is a 100% chance that all the rubber seals and hoses in your braking system will be compromised or ruined. Depending on how much you got in the system and how long it stayed will determine how quickly all the rubber parts will fail. Not maybe but will fail.

You must flush the entire system with alcohol and then replace all the rubber parts. The residue of oil will keep doing damage if you don't get it clean.


Sorry to bear the bad news

 

[nato]

Its a 2010. If the orings are buggered i will know this by the clutch failing?

 

[jostby]

What does the reservoir cap say? I think mineral oil was only used for a couple years (in the clutch only). Think your 2010 uses brake fluid for the brake and clutch reservoir.
And yes, mixing brake fluid with mineral oil will cause the o-rings to eventually swell and fail.

 

[TNT Cycle]

my 2010 300 is mineral oil...I believe like many things with hydo clutches companies changed from time to time and from one to the other. Ktm had many combinations over the years...

 

[nato]

I got it 2nd hand and it has an aftermarket cap on the resovoir so id be thinking that i should go with mineral oil like the rest of the 2010s

 

[Leo]

Simply like this:

If the rubber gasket is green > Mineral
If the rubber gasket is black > DOT