Access to clutch bleed screw
 

Without unbolting the torque tube / bellhousing from the motor, is there enough clearance to actually remove the clutch slave cylinder bleed screw? If there is, shouldn't it be possible to install a remote bleeder (once one becomes available for the C6) without splitting the driveline?

I've heard it said that it's "nearly impossible" (on a C5Z), but I'm curious just how near we're talking.

I just assisted on a C5 Z06 clutch Thursday night. The C6 is worse for clutches, they stopped breaking the bellhousing in half to slip the clutch in. IMHO there is no way you could do this with the driveline intact. You can barely get to the top bellhousing bolts or the clutch master line, let alone that bleeder. It is tight up there.

PM or search for posts by user Sick Rick. He has a custom bleeder in his C6, but he installed in during one of his clutch jobs.

Just my opinion here - and I've only done a few clutches so I'm sure no expert but I'm not sold at all on the need for the bleeder. One of my buddies put the bleeder in his C5 and has had nothing but trouble with the clutch releasing under high RPM's since. We've put in 3 clutches, 2 slaves and 2 masters trying to fix this. We're going to take out the bleeder and see if that fixes it. We have bled the heck out of that thing many times and apparently we never get all the air out because his clutch acts like there is air in there.

On the several clutch jobs I've been involved in, normally you don't need to bleed the clutch, just pump it a few times and it self bleeds just fine. To keep fluid clean, which is important, I have always sucked out the master every other week or so (the Ranger method) and kept it clean, and I've never had a clutch problem through 2 on my C5 and my stock C6.

My 2c. I'm sure others will have other opinions.

L.A.P.D. is in final development on a clutch bleeder for the C6.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...highlight=lapd

BJK

I just did another clutch and the bleed screw is hard enough just to turn. While I think you could tie a string to it and release it, I doubt you could get the new remote line in there. As it was I could only get 3 fingers on the wrench while it was on the bleeder screw. I am going to vote no way you could do it.

Its best not to hijack a thread with a new question. If you start a new thread then lots of people will see the question. If you dont have fluid in the reservoir then you have a leak. Fill it back up and pump the pedal. If it pisses from the bell housing, you have a bad slave cylinder. All other things are visible as far as leaks.

No. Not on a C6.

What were the GM engineers thinking when they made it so you had to remove the driveline to bleed the clutch?? Seems so dumb to me or maybe they were saving a nickle or setting it up so a trip to the shop would be necessary.

I think the reason is that it self bleeds.... I've put in a few clutches and once you pump them it self bleeds itself. The only trouble we've had is the one clutch we installed a bleeder in! My friend who is a tech doing this daily is the one who told me the the first time that we didn't need to worry about bleeding, it will self bleed itself somehow.

I'm pretty sure most people will drive the car its entire life without changing the clutch fluid. When you do a clutch replacement you just pump the pedal and it's fine. It's only us racers that push the equipment that need to change it before the clutch repalcement! :)

Our C6 bleeder solution will begin shipping next week.

Manufactured from a one piece, SS billet design connector, braided hose, AN fittings and with a speed bleeder.

From the designer of the original C5 bleeder, an engineered and field tested product.

The one piece bell housing allows for the structrual cast aluminum oil pan to bolt directly to the bell housing. This results in reduction of N/V (noise and vibration) while increasing the strength of the integral drive line.

The pain is worth the gain.

Triumph!
 

I am happy to report that the remote bleeder can be installed without splitting the driveline, or lowering the engine, or even removing the exhaust.

Last night I installed a remote clutch bleeder from RPM Motors, Inc. on my '06 C6. I was able to get at the bleed screw from below the car, extract it, install the new one, and attach the hose fitting primarily by feel and with a few midget wrenches and the tips of my (now very sore) fingers.

I do have long, thin arms; I doubt guys with big forearms and stubby fingers could do this job.

I also put heat-shrink tubing on the braided stainless bleed hose to prevent it sawing through the firewall or valve covers.

The old clutch fluid looked like black oatmeal. Replacing it with fresh fluid took about five minutes. With the remote bleeder, you don't even have to stoop over, let alone go under the car. It's definitely worth the $85.

Great report on getting in there without splitting the assembly. :thumbs:

Also, thanks for using my products!

Charlie
:cheers:

Hmmm. I've been thinking about installing a remote bleeder for preventative maintence of the fluid. With any luck, I won't have to be doing clutch work any time soon.

Torquetube - So did you end up with a good feeling pedal? No evidence of air trapped in the lines as suggested in the previous posts? Also, I'm a little confused about the routing of the drain line. Sounds like you ran it back into the engine compartment - I guess I expected it would mount down low and drain under the car.

Charley - Nice job on getting this little item produced. Maybe I have missed a thread on this, but I don't have a clear picture of what this adaptor looks like, or how it installs. I don't see that's it's on your website. I'd like to get a better idea of my chances of installing w/o removing bellhousing and tt. I'm sure you're a busy guy, but maybe you could put an assistant with a digital camera on it.... I'm sure a lot of others would like to know too.

TIA

Here you go...

thanks,

Charlie


http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2.../C6bleeder.gif

None whatsoever. I didn't even use a pressure bleeder, just an assistant pressing on the clutch pedal. The feel is just like new.Routing the line upwards is 1) less likely to trap air (a gravity bleed, for example, would be impossible if the line ran down) and 2) makes it much more convenient to work on.Do this test: jack up the car. Slide under from the driver's side, feet first. Using your left hand, reach up between the left downpipe and the frame and see if you can touch the bleed screw (you can identify it by feel because it will have a rubber cap on it). Remove the rubber cap and place a 9mm midget box-end wrench on the bleeder.

If you've made it this far, you can probably pull off this job. Just remember that the entire operation takes place up there.

Torquetube, nice job getting this done despite naysayers like me!!

One question - do you have headers? Every car I've done a clutch on has has had headers and that's why I said no to getting this done. I hadn't considered a car without headers.

If you got this done WITH headers on the car, I'm really impressed!!

No headers -- my car has the stock exhaust.

If a bulky collector blocked access to the bleed screw, though, I suppose you could just remove the left header.

Torquetube - Thanks man, I'll check it out. You're a hero!

:iagree: :thumbs:

Do any of you guys have a tech manual diagram of where the stock clutch bleed screw resides? I tried torquetube's suggestion on sliding under the left side of the car, but I could not find the rubber cap to the bleeder. I think I may have been feeling around in the wrong place. A diagram would help me out a bunch. I have pretty slender arms and fingers, so I'm pretty sure I can reach the bleeder if I knew where it was supposed to be. Thanks.