Bleeding clutch slave cylinder.....issues....

[JesusJones]

Hey everyone.

Been messing around with my car some more. And decided to bleed my clutch again to possibly make it shift better in the cold + preventative maintenance.

Well I watched this

You Tube

You Tube

and thought that the whole pushing the slave cylinder in with your hand was a good idea.

So I went out got my bleeding apparatus all set up and got to work. Every time that I would push that slave cylinder in with the bleeder open I would get some bubbles. Then some huge air pockets when I would push the clutch pedal down just after doing that. It seemed like every time I would push that slave cylinder IN like in the video more air would just show up. I honestly repeated it almost 25 times. This air must have been coming out of "thin air" because there is no way my clutch would have been working with that much air in the system.

The only thing I did differently was that I would push the slave IN without the pedal on the floor. But the bleeder open. Then I would pump the pedal with the bleeder still open and tons of air would come out. I also did it exactly as described in the video and probably 4 other variants and AIR AIR AIR lots of air. Should been blowing up pool toys not bleeding hydraulics. I finally just kinda gave up. And bled it without pushing the slave IN until the bubbles stopped. The clutch pedal and shifting feel the same as ever to me. No better no worse.


Any one know what was going on here? Is my slave cylinder garbage? I never need to top up my clutch fluid and I know it holds pressure I just don't understand where all this air was coming from.

Ideas? Experiences? Suggestions?




P.S. air was not getting in from the bleeding nipple. I use that whole tube and a jar method like in the video it's pretty bullet proof.

[Suprawillis]

I didn't watch the video because I got mad ADD right. But try this. The ghetto way to bleed your clutch.

You will need:
1. Brake fluid. A quart should be good.
2. Drain pan. To collect the excess fluid.
3. 8mm open end wrench. To loosen bleed screw on slave cylinder.
4. Baseball bat. If you're doing this alone.
5. Brake parts cleaner. Get the autozone brand because it is not possessed by satan like the brakekleen brand, and will not eat through your paint, driveway, more importantly your soul.

Step one.

If you are completely changing the fluid, undo the screw on slave cylinder, you can hook a vacuum line to the end of the nipple of the screw, and have that routing to your pan so it collects the drainage fluid. Pump the pedal enough times until all the fluid is gone.

Step 2.

Once fluid is all gone, close bleeder screw on slave cylinder. Fill up your reservour(sp?) with new brake/clutch fluid. go and start pumping the clutch pedal by hand several times. It will be loose and pedal will rest against the floorboard. This is normal. Go to the engine bay and undo the bleeder screw and close it. At this point you may be lucky and get a booger bubble of fluid. Go back to car and keep repeating this process until the clutch pedal starts getting firm.

Step 3.

Now you get to use your baseball bat. Slide the driver seat forward enough to where you can depress the clutch pedal with the bat, and wedge the other end between the seat so it will keep the pedal depressed. Go unscrew the bleeder valve on the slave cylinder, and you will hear the baseball bat fall to the floor. Pull the clutch pedal back from the floorboard with your hand, and start pumping away with your foot. Wedge the baseball bat between the seat and pedal, and repeat process until the clutch pedal is firm again.

Make sure you peek at your clutch master reservouir(sp?) and keep it filled. Use brake parts cleaner and spray off your slave cylinder and any surrounding areas in case brake fluid dripped anywhere. Brake fluid is the debble, and it will eat through your skin, the driveway, and more importantly, your soul.

[Yodadex]

yeah it helps to have someone help. The other person can keep the pedal pressed as you close the bleeder valve; when the pedal is released new fluid can be sucked through the line.

These little tubes and containers work but the capacity suck.

[speedy25]

JJ- You didnt pay enough attention to the sound on the video. Its NOT for bleeding, but to remove any extra air that might be in the system. Also the pedal has to be on the floor to do what the vid says. The fact that you kept getting air meant your technique was wrong.

Normally you do it the same as you would brakes, but the bleeder is only open for a split second because the flow is way less than in a brake system.

Alternately, (and my fave) is to use a mightyvac and suck fluid through the system.

Also on an older system the bleeder will leak through the threads. I solve that and any corrosion problem by using a little nev-r-seize on the threads.

If you HAVENT cleaned out the reservoir, do it. Most people NEVER change the fluid and it fills up with some nasty desposits. Since you have air already it wont take much more work to clean and bleed.

Hope you're back on the road soon.

-SP

[JesusJones]

Thanks for the replies. I couldn't wrap my head around where the air might be getting in from. Still don't know where from but I guess the method I was using had something to do with it.

Anyways I ended up letting it gravity bleed for about 1 hour closing the bleeder and pumping the clutch a couple times every now and then during that hour. I also pushed the slave cylinder in to remove any air, this time I left the bleeder open and slowly let it back out so it would not suck the air in the bleeding tube back into the slave wild it refilled with fluid via gravity. Doing this a few times and letting it gravity bleed eventually left me with no air coming out and I was satisfied that there was none left. All is well now and shifting is smooth again.

Cheers