Where'd my clutch go?

So a few of you would have read my Husky challenges, mine loves to do weird things when hot!
Start and running issues are now a thing of the past, have had the shocks services and set for me but I knew my clutch might need work and I was right.
So the issue now is clutch works when cold but disappears when bike warms up. A mate has worked both ends of the hydraulics a while back so they should be fine. We are thinking it must be something within the clutch itself.
When hot the clutch lever goes limp and if let cooled down recovers. I even battled some single trails without touching the lever and still found it lost function.
I felled 4 small trees yesterday when I went for clutch and nothing!!!
So my questions are::
What are the causes of clutch malfunction when hot?
And how does one work out which one is the culprit in the most cost effective way??
My mate suggests I just ride faster and not use it but I do not want to do any more deforestation

Does the hydraulic fluid level in the master cylinder go down after one of these episodes? is there fluid missing? Or does it stay full?

It stays full after each ride, haven't checked it during an episode. Would it be worth doing? Where would it go to hide and come back?

I would replace the clutch fluid and bleed the system. If it still occurs after that then could well be heat related. I had a similar problem on my TE449, the factory routing was causing the hydraulic line to get too hot and bubble the fluid. Quick re-route and was solved.

Yes the fluid is quite new and I have the line as far away from heat as possible, my mates ktm has the line running right next to the head with no probs.
I'm wondering if a heavier fluid might help?

is the preload / reach on the lever wound in so far that the piston never comes back far enough to uncover the hole to the reservior ? resulting in a closed system
try backing the reach right out and rebleeding it

Arrghhh replaced slave with an Oberon one I ordered, makes the action nice and light but still clutch fading when hot, returning when cools down. I'm using ATF fluid which my mate uses on his KTM with magura clutch. Why is this bike trying to destroy me!

I hate that just when you finally find a posting that replicates my problem exactly, the conversation halts and the outcome is never revealed.
Hi Bartz
I have a 2009 TE 450 which has exactly the same problem ie when hot the clutch fades. I noticed that it worsens when you are moving, but improves in a matter of seconds when you become stationery.(only slightly however) This suggests to me that air passing past the cylinder is heating the hose causing the fade. I have done all the obvious attempts to fix; I also wrapped the hose with insulating material behind the cylinder (which failed) Did you get a fix? I can't believe you and I are the only ones to have this problem. What is the dealerships answer to this? or are our models not viable and therefore no longer supported. - help

I have seen several guys struggle with the Oberon slave unit and chase their tails around, seems to not be a good replacement.

Me again
Has any body got an answer for a missing clutch? when the TE gets hot that is; per the message string
rgds BR

Not sure if this is fixed yet but I'd go with whatever fluid the Husqvarna factory says put in the master cylinder ...As bad as this sounds, Factory knows best in most cases...

If that is your 09 bike, my 08TXC probably has the same parts on it, had an Oring in the slave unit that went bad but it would not work cold or hot ... Other than that ~25,000 KMs and zero issues with the clutch. Mineral oil worked fine all that time. Actually dirty mineral oil because normally, I will not work on a bike that is running well until some sign becomes apparent an issue is rising to the top.

What fluid are you running?

I'd suggest you to change the oil.. Sometimes the clutch slips more with an engine oil that does not suit its needs. Here it is recommended to use Mobil 0w40(i think) I personally use Motul 300V 5W40 offroad. It is green and the bottle is black with red. Once, in an enduro event, I lost completely my clutch, as the bike got hot. I thought I had to change the clutch, but when I shut it off and let it cold, then the clutch went back to proper function. It happened because of the engine oil, some additives did not met bikes clutch. Maybe its your case.

I agree with above, try to use an oil that has no friction minimising additives.

His problem is not slipping it is disengagement. Factory calls for mineral oil for clutch master/slave.

I understood the oposite..

Thanks for the feedback we will get to the bottom of this yet.
If you can imagine a snapped clutch cable (the conventional cable operated clutch) when hot the clutch lever (handlebar) is floppy. It worsens progressively as the engine heats up. First gear tight stuff will do it.
I swapped the original oil out with Motorex "Fluid 75" 'Mineral Oil' "Special oil for hydraulic brake and clutch" specifies 'Magura hydraulic clutches. Comes in a tiny bottle 100ml. The local bike shop use it for KTM clutches.

The hose clears the head and cylinder by at least one inch (25mm) which one would think is enough to rule out heat eminating from the engine. In any case it would have to boil the oil to develop bubbles within the hose. IMHO that is unlikely. I don't lose any oil (ie passed o rings in the slave) as others have indicated as well.
I have not had the slave and master cylinders off the bike and dismantled yet, which will be the next step.

I'm sure there is a dealer or Husky mechanic out there who has come across this before- help us out?
cheers

Did anybody find the proper fix for this? I am having the exact same problem with my 2012 TE511.
Clutch lever became super floppy riding switchbacks up a hill. I'd shut the bike off and it would recover within about 30 seconds and be gone again after the first corner.
Going to start with changing my clutch fluid with High heat Dot4 and trying a new motor oil. What oil is everybody running in their TE511s? I've recently read that people are liking the mobil 1 0w-40. Is this is? http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mobil-1-0W-40-Advanced-Full-Synthetic-Motor-Oil-5-qt./23636902

I read in my manual that it recommends Castrol GPS 10w-40. I was unable to find that, but this seems to be the best quality fully synthetic 10w-40 oil of any type that i could find.


Any help is much appreciated. THANKS!

Thats right, that is the recommended Mobile oil. The castrol in the image is the manual's recomendation. I used to use Motul, and changed to Torco, very good oil too. Full synth.

I just got an 09 te450 (newb here on cafehusy), rode it to work a few times with no issues, then all of a sudden the lever started to lose it's pressure. Adjusted the master cyl plunger to get a little more, but it would go. If I stopped I would get some back. I was assuming it was due to vibration rather than heat??

I took the Master cyl cap off, level was ok, added a little mineral oil to be sure, and clutched over and over again and each pull I could see a little string of tiny bubbles come up. After about 5-10 min, the clutch felt great again. I had been doing some pretty long wheelies, and clutching mid-wheelie, any chance that let a little air get pumped by the Master Cyl being tipped at an angle?

It was easy enough to get the bubbles out, and get perfect clutch again, but I'd hate to deal with this on an adventure type ride. Doesn't seem like heat OR vibration alone should cause this.. ideas? Thanks