1st I want to preface I am no mechanic. I change oil/filters and brake pads & rotors and basic routine maintenance.
Anything above that I rely on friends and Visa.

I have an 03 Z06 which is primarily my HPDE Track car. I drive it to & from the track and some weekend drives. It has appox 55,000 miles on it.

I'm trying to find out if the trans fluid is drained when replacing the clutch.
My car has a trans cooler mounted behind the driver forward of the L/Rear Wheel.

Here's my story.
Year ago ran into a trans problem at the track. After researching the symptoms and the proper fix my research brought me to a performance shop specializing in Vettes and Trans. This shop is 200 miles from me had stellar reviews. So I had the car flat-bedded to this shop. Had trans rebuilt to withstand the stresses of the track. All the internals were upgraded, aluminum components were replaced with steel and other wear items with bronze. And added a few more things to help insure track reliability and longevity. I questioned whether clutch needed replacing and was told No, it looks good.

Fast forward to this year. My clutch goes while at the track. I initially was not sure what the problem was because at low and normal speeds everything worked as it should. But under track stress it did not. A few more mechanically gifted Vette guys at the track took their turns checking it out and consensus was Clutch.
Did not want to ship it 200 miles, so this time bring car to a shop only 30 miles from me. They confirm clutch needs to be replaced. It's done all is good.

Drive the 30 miles to my home
Next week drive 400 mile round trip to track + appox another 100 track miles
2 weeks later drive 200 miles to the track and maybe another 50 on the track before all goes wrong
Trying to shift into 1st is almost impossible, 2nd & 4th are impossible.
All sorts of grinding noises
Again I enlist the aid of a few Vette guys way more mechanically gifted then me.
Consensus is sounds/feels like a trans

I am able to drive the 200 miles home using primarily 1-3-5-6
Am able to carefully maneuver into 1st skip 2nd & 4th. No way possible to use 2nd & 4th.
It drove OK with those gears

Ship it the 200 miles to trans shop.
He calls me the next day and asks who worked on your car, I can see somebody was in here
I ask why, he says because there is virtually no fluid in the trans--and the trans is shot even the core is not salvageable
He sends me a video of my trans out of the car and him tipping it over and a small amount of fluid forming a puddle on the shop floor
Then he shows me some part coming out of the trans all wobbly--says it should have no wobble

He askes me did I clean the underside of the car, I ask why?
He says because he sees no signs of any leaks and asks did I see any and clean everything
My response is No leaks ever anywhere, no fluid in my garage, no fluid in the paddock under my car at the track
No leaks anywhere ever

He says whom ever replaced the clutch never refilled the trans fluid

I ask him, is it possible for me to drive 400 miles round trip to track a 100 miles on the track then 200 miles back to the track and maybe another 50 track miles with no fluid. He says there is never NO fluid. With my trans cooler there's probably a qt maybe little over a qt left in the trans and that's enough to keep the trans lubricated for a short while.

I contact the clutch shop tell them what's happened and ask, is it possible whom ever was working on my car got distracted and forgot to replace the trans fluid. Their immediate answer is No Way, That's Impossible because we don't drain trans fluid while replacing a clutch. I said even with trans fluid cooler, again the answer was absolutely can't be us because we don't drain trans fluid even with your oil cooler while replacing the clutch.

My question to you guys, is this true?
Can you do a clutch replacement in a Vette with a trans cooler and not drain the bulk of the fluid?
Thanks

 

Although I'm not familiar with these rear-mounted transmissions, not sure why you would have to drain it to replace the clutch. You certainly don't have to on the old style transmission mounted directly to the engine bellhousing.

 

73shark
This is why I'm asking about this.
I can't get a definitive answer.
Plus, my car has a trans cooler mounted between L/R wheel and driver seat and evidently this adds another wrinkle to the equation.
I was told by the guy who installed the trans-cooler there's no way clutch can be removed without draining trans fluid. Got same story from guy who replaced trans a year ago.

Guy who did clutch tells me they don't drain trans fluid
They cap off the lines reducing loss of fluid

Evidently there seems to be no straightforward resolution
to this question

 

Might check with a dealer service dept and see what their procedure says.