Bleeding hydraulic clutch ?
Drifting
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,428
Likes: 7
From: Chewelah Wa
Oh boy...I hate to say it, but you might try a search on this one. Some people have had serious trouble doing this, me being one of them. After my car sat forever and replacing just about everything (drivetrain, clutch, etc.) I could not push the clutch pedal in far enough to shift. The pedal felt ok. Convinced I had air in there somewhere (after reading lots of search posts) I proceeded to bleed, rebleed, replace the master, slave and hoses, rebleed again. Bought a pump to pressure bleed all the way up to the master from the slave. Unbolted slave and held it in the "right position". Same pedal. I was ready to bleed it with the car upside down, underwater if I could drive it.The fix was that I had to put a longer rod on the slave. This might have been due to wear on the pedal pivot joint, or a change in the geometry due to flywheel resurfacing, or a combination of the two....I dunno. Moral of my story is that i probably bled it perfectly in the first 5 minutes of my adventure, with a jar and a hose, just like I do my brakes.
Thread Starter
Slingshot
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,817
Likes: 24
From: Charlotte NC
Thanks Rich. Do you just go to the slave and open the bleeder screw the same way that you do the brakes with a power bleeder or am I missing something?
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,853
Likes: 8
From: Westerly RI
I have had to change the clutch cyls several times due to the q.c. issues with the oem cyls, now using cast cyls. Each time I changed a cyl, one or the other, I bled the system with a Mityvac just as you would with brakes, and had good results without any of the incantations, etc. reported by others with this repair. This all happened before I discovered the Forum, maybe if I had found it prior to those repairs, I would have realized how much trouble I was in and the project would have been more difficult.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 2,949
Likes: 23
From: Bowling Green KY
Easiest method I have found is to use a Phoenix Injector which pushes fluid UP through the system.
Another trick I have found useful is to jack the front of the car up just a bit when pushing fluid up, which takes care of bleeding the slave since your fluid entry point will be the lowest point.
Now jack the rear of the car up just a bit and continue to push fluid up - this takes care of the bleeding the master since your fluid entry point is now the lowest point.
Works like a charm for me.
If you draw the system on a piece of paper this "seems" obvious to do this, but I didn't think of doing it until I noticed the jacking tip in the Phoenix Injector manual.
Another trick I have found useful is to jack the front of the car up just a bit when pushing fluid up, which takes care of bleeding the slave since your fluid entry point will be the lowest point.
Now jack the rear of the car up just a bit and continue to push fluid up - this takes care of the bleeding the master since your fluid entry point is now the lowest point.
Works like a charm for me.
If you draw the system on a piece of paper this "seems" obvious to do this, but I didn't think of doing it until I noticed the jacking tip in the Phoenix Injector manual.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 21,543
Likes: 3,216
From: Park City Utah
Back bleeding.
I just did mine this morning, and it took less than 5 minutes. Fill the reservoir, then pump the pedal just a smudge, and you'll observe bubbles rising up into the res. Those bubbles are air being displaced by fluid, in the system. When the bubble stop rising, do a full pedal stroke to displace air all the way down into the slave, and continue. Works wicked good on small hydraulic systems like dirt bike/snowmobile brakes, and clutch systems.
I just did mine this morning, and it took less than 5 minutes. Fill the reservoir, then pump the pedal just a smudge, and you'll observe bubbles rising up into the res. Those bubbles are air being displaced by fluid, in the system. When the bubble stop rising, do a full pedal stroke to displace air all the way down into the slave, and continue. Works wicked good on small hydraulic systems like dirt bike/snowmobile brakes, and clutch systems.
