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Almost afraid to ask this one. I'm looking for a recommendation for a good remote clutch slave bleeder. Or even if you know of which to stay away from.
Please list if it uses a tapered seat or crush washer, if its angled or straight, and rough cost.
Almost every thread I found people are talking about leaks. I'm considering making what I read about on another forum: Stock bleeder, braze side holes, drill through tip, braze AN fitting on top.
Mine has a tapered seat, no washer, I can't remember for sure but I think it's Katech brand, paid over 100, has never leaked and I bleed it often when racing during the summer
I had one from East Coast Performance that worked well. However, Mike Yeager the owner passed away a few years ago. I would suggest going with the Katech unit. Theirs will fit.
I've put several Tick Performance remote kits in and never had a leak. The last one was with a Hinson Motorsports kit. Cannot recommend them though. The fitting that goes into the slave was not machined correctly and we had to double the copper washers to make it leak tight. There was a card in the package said "call us and let us know how great our product is!". Called left a message that their product sucked. Never heard from them. Hinson is scratched off my list for sure.
I thought about brazing a fitting to one, but the system pressure can go to about 1000 psi and I never felt confident silver brazing steel to steel especially with a fitting that has been in hydraulic service. It looks like there is a spring and a ball in that fitting that would have to be removed and then the fitting would need to be drilled so as not to score the seat. That would take a lathe. So the cost of trying always exceeded the cost and convenience of a kit.
K2, wow 1kpsi! Guess I'd switch to TIG. Didn't realize there was also ball / spring in there. Can't believe they didn't call you back after leaving that message ;-)
Dirk, did the Tick have the correct angle on the bottom?
Katech looks good but damn thats expensive ($140), but I don't want to have to fix a leak. Are they the only ones with the correct fitting?
K2, wow 1kpsi! Guess I'd switch to TIG. Didn't realize there was also ball / spring in there. Can't believe they didn't call you back after leaving that message ;-)
Dirk, did the Tick have the correct angle on the bottom?
Katech looks good but damn thats expensive ($140), but I don't want to have to fix a leak. Are they the only ones with the correct fitting?
Yes, we are the only ones with the correct tapered fitting. We make them from scratch at our facility here in Michigan. Most of the cost of that kit though is the expensive Brown & Miller braided hose.
It occurred to me that I could just take the new slave and spot face the area around the bleeder. Then it would be a good sealing surface for crush washers. I'll have to see if there is room for a banjo-bolt.
I have East Coast Performance but never installed it. I tried but way too difficult. No room. Let us know how you get it installed if you perform the installation.
Rob, the last thing i would do is chuck a slave in a mill. One sliver of metal in the slave and you are back in with a new slave. Besides, how would you dial up to make sure you are perpendicular to the bore? The copper crush washers are soft as is the body of the slave; seem to always give a good seat (save the Hinson experience). I don't have any personal experience with the KaTech, but on the other hand, I have never seen anything they offer that was less than perfect.
At the end of the day, the remote bleeder will be the least of your expenses, but a good investment.
I was told that the purpose of the bleeder is to allow the tiny bit of air in the system to vent during install at the assembly plant. Once the air is let out, the hydraulic pressure seats the little ball and you have a tight system. Bottom line, it was not put there for the convenience of the owner for servicing the system. IF (and a BIG IF) you are careful and replace both slave and master, AND seat the quick coupler without introducing air, the system does not need bleeding. Usually we are 4 beers in at that time, and the remote bleeder has always saved our a$$e$.
I got a kit from Speedway Motors, but I would not recommend it. In fact, unless a kit uses a different type of fitting at the slave to connect the AN hose, I would not recommend using such a kit. The only kit I would use is one that uses an angled fitting into the slave, or a much shorter crimp on the AN hose (not even sure this latter item is even available/possible, since I imagine a certain length is required for support). The problem is that the straight-out fitting, combined with the length of the crimp on the hose, causes the hose to press against the trans tunnel, putting a bend in it that I'm not sanguine about, i.e., it puts stress on the hose. I plan to go back in and replace the fitting with a 45º adapter to avoid the "smash the hose against the tunnel".
Last edited by huesmann; Feb 23, 2017 at 10:11 AM.