Front of car jacked up so the slave is at an angle so bleeder is high. Master slave and line are new. Did the bottle trick, used clear hose so i could see the air coming out. Pumped n pumped till the line was solid fluid, not a spec of air. Pedal is still spongy..............

 

Do like a former GM mechanic told me. Car off, on the ground, reservoir cap off. Pump the clutch quickly like 10 times, hold the clutch down the last time. Keep holding it for about 5 minutes then slide your foot off the clutch and let it pop up on it's own. Residual air in the system works back up the line to the curve above the master cylinder, releasing the clutch forces the air back out into the reservoir.

I've done it, it does work. Good luck.

 

Thread i found said pump allot. Fluid in resivor was dark already. So i sucked it out and added new before your 10 pump trick. See the color change already. Everything is new..

 

Also read in another post about making the rod longer. As it does seem like it doesn't start to engage till the end of the stroke. Pedal is half down before resistance starts.

 

Did you change the slave cylinder? If yes-Check to make sure the rod is seated properly into the fork. This is what happened to me when I changed mine-Drove me crazy

Steve

 

Ok i bleed it to death. Still no action till about half down. Spock once said when you eliminate all possibilities no matter how illogical the answer is, it must be correct. Removed the dam spacer from the master, clutch action like a *****... Drives great, done messing with it.

 

Spoken like a true C4 enthusiast.

 

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c4-tech-performance/3972903-help-me-figure-out-clutch-hydr-issue.html

the above linked thread may be a bit lengthy but it covers some of the things I've tried and had success with. Give it a read.

 

...have many of the same issues as others on this thread...but before I spend the $$ on a slave cylinder, how can I tell it's bad?

 

A failing slave cylinder will leak fluid on the ground. Additionally, if you press the clutch all the way down and put it into gear, it will start to engage even if you hold the clutch pedal down.

A failing master cylinder can cause the same symptom, but could be leaking back into the reservoir or leaking externally.

 

I've done everything also and still think I have air. Clurch grabs very close to floor. At one point I was worried about getting home from a short test drive. Think I may take to a shop and let them mess with it.

 

My Chevrolet Pickup truck had a hydraulic clutch. I replaced it twice in 200,000 miles. There is an easy way and a hard way.

The easy way is using a tool like the Phoenix Bleeder, it makes it so simple that you will kick yourself for not buying one earlier.

The hard way was using two people and bleeding it like you would bleed your brakes

The Phoenix system pushes the fluid up from the bottom and gets all of the air out. I could never get all the air out before I bought the Phoenix Bleeding tool and afterwards my wife was in heaven as she was the primary driver. The clutch acted like it was "dealer new". No more contortionist moves just trying to get the air out.

I have never heard of holding the pedal down for five minutes and letting it "pop" back up. My pickup had a air lock designed into it and the only way around it was with pressure pushing the air out.

I have found the Phoenix bleeder to be very useful bleeding the brakes on my 1988 C4 with that blasted ABS box behind the drivers seat. That system is a royal pain in the butt and was designed by somebody who did not understand physics of fluid flow.

May the "Force" rid you of your air. Where the force comes from is up to you....

Good Luck with your Corvette!

 

I posted this into another similar post, thought I'd share here too.. Finally Success....

I just replaced the master & slave cylinder in my Convert. Naturally the hydraulic line was next.

After replacing the master an slave,, I filled the master in the car and bled the system, I did pre-bleed on the master and flushed the line. The fluid turned black and the pedal was very low and spongy. After several flushed and bleed, no improvements. The clutch pedal has always been low in my C4. So ordered the new hydraulic line.

While I had a few days before the new hydraulic line arrived I decided to deal with the clutch pedal heights. I re-read the posts re the low pedal height, so I removed the battery and pulled the master cylinder out and removed the 5/8 inch spacer. I did a SWAG and initially though that I'd need a 1/4 inch spacer. So I decided to just leave the spacer out and slowly tighten the bolts until the pedal was near the top of its travel. Turned out for the proper height I didn't need a spacer. Finally some success !! after 20 years of a low clutch pedal, it's where it should be.....

Yep, was a PITA to removed the old line. I had to bend and cut the steel part of the old line next to the clamp, after removing the heat shield. Was a bit tricky as the new line was not bent quite properly. But, no cross threads !!

I decided to try a different approach to the bleeding procedure. This time I opened the slave cylinder bleed fitting and then topped off the master cylinder and let it drip for a few minutes. I slowly depressed the pedal to the floor, held the pedal down for a minute or so then back up slowly. I repeated this several times. refilled the mater reservoir as needed. Tightened up the slave bleed fitting. To my surprise I have a pretty good pedal.

I tried the bleed method posted , pump the pedal and wait several minutes. The pedal slowly came up but still spongy,air.... I did this routine on and off for several hours in between another project. The pedal was still down two inches. Dinner time,, So I gave up and called it a day.

To my surprise the next morning the pedal was up, firm ,, no spongy feel. Tested perfect, BEST PEDAL EVER on the car. Darn I'm pleased.

Thanks all for all the posts for of great information !!

The strangest Clutch Slave cylinder bleed ever.

Now I lust need to clean up the mess and replace the hear shield, here's a photo of it.

Michael...

 

is it normal for the rod on the slave cylinder to have to be depressed into the cylinder as your tighten up the 2 mounting nuts? Another words the flange of the slave cylinder is about 3/16" away from the mounting surface of the bell housing until I tighten the nuts to pull it in.

 

Yes, that’s normal

 

Thanks for confirming that.