I have a 1992 Saturn SL2 purchased new that now has 90K miles.
The car has been driven in a gentle manner with no hard acceleration and1/3/5 shifting to avoid wear and tear. Break pads at 70K showed at least another 20/30K life as a indication of this treatment.
Recently the clutch has started to slip under load. I find it hard to believe the clutch needs replacement.
I have always had to top off the clutch fluid reservoir but have never seen any external leakage at the firewall or transmission case.
Is it possible that I have an internal fluid leak at the transmission slave cylinder that has resulted in a wet clutch.
Is there a way see if there is fluid in the clutch housing. If I replace the slave cylinder and reservoir can I clean the clutch surfaces with a parts cleaner in situ.

 

The hydraulics on the S cars are 100% outside the tranny, so no, the clutch fluid in the slave could not find its way into the clutch itself.

Never heard of the 1-3-5 driving method but ya learn something new every day.

If you've had a leaking master or slave cyl for a long time, it may be that the rod from the slave that seats into the fork has not been pushing the clutch fully in to disengage it fully when shifting gears, thus prematurely wearing down the friction material prematurely.

Alternatively the metal fingers that the throw out bearing presses on to release the clutch may be fatiguing and are not acting as as strong a "Spring" as they once did, Therefore, with the clutch pedal fully down, the clutch is not fully in betw shifts and the wear is accelerated.

I'm sure you're burning oil by now, but do you see any evidence of oil at the lower section of the junction of the engine and tranny? Possible rear main seal issue w oil getting in here. Same thing w tranny fluid. Does it leak?

There is a hydraulics test you can do with a paper clip. You put the straightened portion through an access whole near where the slave rod enters the tranny. Measure travel distance (clutch pedal to the floor - clutch not applied (=0). The travel distance should not be less than 11.18 mm (0.44 in). If the distance is too small, the hydraulics are an issue. Given that they are leaking, I'd say they are an issue anyway.

It's 25 years old. Metal fatigues. The clutch friction material probably changes in property a bit over that length of time.

90K? Seriously? If not a typo, that's the lowest mileage 92 s car I've ever head of still on the road

Original front pads at 90K? They usually lat half that but if you are doing mostly highway miles and downshifting I suppose it's possible.

Rears would normally wear out at 120K so I don't know when yours will be done.

Since I'm not sure you'll be backm, here's some handy info:

1) O2 sensor lasts 100k to 120k on average. Replace w Denso equivalent of the AC Delco part, which is itself a relabeled Denso)

2) If you have not already done so, change your ECTS and pigtail wiring and replace with GM sourced (all brass sensor) parts. Generics do not have the same temp vs resistance behavior.