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Clutch pedal is stiff, always was. But it doesn't want to go into gear. It does on occasion. But still, i've been pumping for 15 minutes, and bubbles keep showing up.
When I did mine I was replacing the line, master and slave cylinders at the same time. The master was leaking out of the back. While I had the slave off I turned the slave cylinder so that the bleeder was on top. I gravity bled first. At some point I also used a Mighty Vac when the bleeder was facing up too.
I guess I could try rotating the slave, so that the bleeder is upwards. I haven't driven this car since I brought it home 3 weeks ago. But since I added the clutch fluid two weeks ago, the level in the reservoir hasn't gone down. Clutch pedal is dry, carpet is dry, no signs of fluid in the inspection cover on the bell housing.
I'll figure it out one day. Again, thank you all for the help.
That sucks you haven't been able to drive it. My firewall was damp with fluid and the resovoir was low. Not knowing the maintenance history done to the car, I replaced all three components. I also cracked the hose connection loose at the slave when I initally did it. If you search for the "ranger method" for changing out the fluid they mention letting the clutch peddle slip from your foot so it springs back to position. This helps move some of the air bubbles that are trapped move.
When I reverse bled mine-I did get the air bubbles also. I believe that is normal as the air wants to go to a high point. I have used a few methods to bleed. When I used the lever style oil can I put the end directly into the bleeder. Make sure the method you are using is not pulling in any air. If you decide to remove the slave and rotate it to bleed. Be careful when you reinstall, as one time I missed the folk with the rod. Drove me crazy as I thought it wasn't bleed correctly.
I've always had trouble reverse bleeding the system. Years ago when I spoke with Jim at Powertorqe he offered this method, might be worth a shot. I'll do my best to recall. This assumes the master is full, and there is little to no air in the master/clutch line. Master cap is on.
- Remove slave from the car and remove hydraulic line from slave. Very little fluid should be lost from the hydraulic line as the master cap is still on, essentially holding fluid in place.
- bench bleed the slave. Remove slave and dump out the old fluid. Start filling with fresh fluid through the line port (bleeder is closed). As you fill, air is naturally displaced out. Fill until full and fluid pools at the line port opening. Trick --> Using a small diameter syringe to fill it up works great as air will be displaced/bubble around the tip as fluid rises.
- Once the slave is full, CAREFULLY bring it over the car and install the clutch line. If your careful enough, very little fluid is lost and there is little air in the slave cylinder.
- Bolt the slave down to the bell housing. Make sure the slave push rod is centered on the clutch fork and torque the two nuts down at an even pace.
- Pump the pedal 50 or so times, varying stroke length and speed, and you should have a solid clutch that engages.
If this doesnt work you may want to look into replacing components.
Had time to mess with the car today. Looked at the slave, and noticed the bleed screw was wet. Not a lot, but moist. Hmm, guess I didn't tighten it enough. So I attempted to reverse bleed, again. Put the bleed line on the reverse screw, no air in the line. Loosened the screw, maybe half a turn. Then started pumping fluid. For some reason, it was very stiff pumping fluid into slave. But the reverse bleed tool pumps fine, except when I connect it to my slave. Weird.
Also, with that half turn that I loosened it, fluid was leaking from the slave itself. Where the threads are. I could tell because the fluid coming out was dirty.
Keep in mind, I haven't driven this car in 5 weeks. But since i filled the reservoir 2 weeks ago, my first time reverse bleeding it, the level in the reservoir is exact as it was. Who would have thought something so simple, would be so hard for me
When I installed my master and slave, I initially left the pedal depressed overnight. Then the next day I pumped the clutch pedal 400 times. Worked for me. Never even touched the bleeder screw. Few thousand trouble free miles since then.
Basically the same thing I posted. Not sure why the rod would need to be compressed during filling though.
Figured. Just wanted to double check.
Reason why I haven't bought new ones, is because the car isn't leaking clutch fluid. Firewall is as dry as new. So, taking the slave out will be another try.
So I bought a new slave and master. Master hasn't gotten to me yet. When I push down on the rod of the slave, it doesn't come down. Is it bad straight out of the box?
Also, are the boots supposed to have this hole on the boot?
When I installed a new master cylinder and slave cylinder, I had a (very) difficult time bleeding it. I tried the factory method, the U tube and various other methods, everything. Nothing. It's difficult for fluid coming down from the clutch master cylinder to force all the air out of the slave cylinder. So I "power" bled it. That means forcing fluid up into the slave through the bleeder screw.
From your photo of the clear plastic tube already attached to the bleeder screw your already half way there. You can purchase a "power bleeder" for $$$ or do what I did.
Buy a new, "as in clean" grease gun; fill the gun with clutch fluid....my choice is Dot 5 silicon based brake fluid...and using the grease gun, pump the fluid into the clutch slave which will fill the slave and then go up into and fill the clutch master cylinder. Using the clear plastic hose you can see if any entrained air is being pumped into the system.
in my system, I removed the hose / metal tube from the end of the grease gun; the end of the grease gun is a female 1/8th inch pipe thread; I screwed in a male 1/8th inch pipe thread to 5/16th inch male hose barb adapter. 5/16th clear plastic hose fit tightly over the end of the bleeder screw on the slave cylinder.
The factory and other methods, at some point, want to pump the air, aka air bubbles, down and out, which they naturally resist. Power bleeding from the bottom, forces the air bubbles UP, which is what they want to do anyway.
Long story short, after hours of fruitless effort, using the above method of power bleeding from the bottom, in five minutes I had a functioning clutch hydraulic system.
good luck; I applaud your efforts.
Last edited by mtwoolford; 04-14-2019 at 05:16 PM.
03-16-2019, 01:49 PM
