Why does my clutch sometimes go all the way down and back up and sometimes it only comes up halfway and sometimes my brake light comes on saying brake fluid low when my brakes are good. My clutch is good. It's not slipping

Clutch fluid is leaking past the seals in master cylinder when the clutch is pressed, so it's not fully returning when that happens.

Also means the fluid level will be lower in the brake & clutch reservoir, which is why the brake fluid light comes on.

Will need a new clutch master cylinder if that is what's happening.  (Could also be slave cylinder, but that seems less likely in this case).

Thanks so much I thought that as well but I just wanted to double-check with the forum

Have the same issue with my S-max. Topped up the clutch fluid but it seems to require repeated toppping up, so keeps leaking i guess. Would this likely be the master or slave cylinder being the issue?

12 minutes ago, Soren said:

Have the same issue with my S-max. Topped up the clutch fluid but it seems to require repeated toppping up, so keeps leaking i guess. Would this likely be the master or slave cylinder being the issue?

If you have to keep topping up the fluid, you should be able to to see it leaking from one of those two parts.

7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

If you have to keep topping up the fluid, you should be able to to see it leaking from one of those two parts.

Yeah - tried but cant really see any leaks - but its very old, so a lot of oil/dirt everywhere. I heard of "internal leaks" in the cylinders - is that a real thing? 

1 minute ago, Soren said:

Yeah - tried but cant really see any leaks - but its very old, so a lot of oil/dirt everywhere. I heard of "internal leaks" in the cylinders - is that a real thing? 

Yes, they can leak internally, but there's not so much space inside that you would have to keep topping up if that was the case.

If it's all caked in muck then degrease the area around the MC and around the bottom of the bellhousing to see which one ends up getting damp again.

Or just try a new MC as that's the cheapest and easiest part.

30 minutes ago, Soren said:

Yeah - tried but cant really see any leaks - but its very old, so a lot of oil/dirt everywhere. I heard of "internal leaks" in the cylinders - is that a real thing? 

Or should it only be visible when the pedal is pressed down - so i need a helper? 

Posting in General Chat thread.

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By Stoney871
12/11/2019

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1 hour ago, Soren said:

Or should it only be visible when the pedal is pressed down - so i need a helper? 

If you're having to top it up, it must be coming out of the system altogether.  This is not the same problem as the original poster.