Bleeding Clutch Advice

[ch435]

I am trying to bleed the clutch to no avail. It just won't bleed. We have spent a couple hours on it. Have tried opening valve, pushing in clutch, closing valve, release clutch, repeat, repeat, repeat. Tried using a pump (that goes to 30psi, maybe needs more psi?) Can't get it to go, so I am stuck with no clutch pressure, and a car that runs but I can't drive! UGH! Anyone have any ideas.

[Steve@Tasca]

Of course today my link to the Ford manuals won't work.

I believe they want you to pump fluid "IN" to the system through the bleeder screw to get started but what I found that works is to make sure the reservoir is full and pump the pedal multiple times and then crack the bleeder.

Repeat that until it gets pressure, pump the pedal like ten times before you open the bleeder and it might help to have a vacuum bleeder hooked up to it at the same time.

And as I'm sure you know, be sure to keep the reservoir full.

[Pappy]

Pump it up. Hold it down, then crack the valve. Close the valve once air/fluid stops coming out. Pump again, repeat.

Also, since I'm thinking about it. Make sure your car is on a level surface, ie: not having the front end jacked up. It won't bleed out if it is. Put it on the ground and try again. Also make sure to keep the resevoir level high.

[trahma]

what pappy said is pretty much exactly what you need to do. i had to do this too much when my master cylinder went bad.

[KRYPTO]

I've done all ways told, and nothing works for his car. We did talk to the Ford mechanic and he told us it needs to be pumped in through the bleeder and to pump the pedal 100 times. We did that wont work. Tried forcing it through with pump, wont go. Even tried sucking it with the pedal (push pedal down open bleeder, let pedal up) with hose on end of bleed filled with fluid to suck into it.

Nothing works for his car for some reason. I told him to bring it to a shop that has a power pump to really force the air out. Its confusing cuz When I first bleed it, it was fine. Then they switched the fluid out with DOT4 ( cuz put manual trans fluid in by mistake) and now cant get the cluch bleed. Brakes are fine.

[trahma]

If you're not getting pressure, i'd guess the system is leaking elsewhere. Just make sure you only pump when the bleeder is closed.

[Louis Zerr]

Fill it, cap the resevoir, pump like hell. With the clutch still pressed open the bleeder, nothing? Is there any fluid on the floor of the car under the pedal area?

[hermitmaster]

Mine was no problem at all using the traditional method. Pump clutch, open bleeder, hold clutch to floor, close bleeder. Maintain fluid level and repeat until you get pressure. All told, I think it took us five minutes or so.

[Steve@Tasca]

I've done all ways told, and nothing works for his car. We did talk to the Ford mechanic and he told us it needs to be pumped in through the bleeder and to pump the pedal 100 times. We did that wont work. Tried forcing it through with pump, wont go. Even tried sucking it with the pedal (push pedal down open bleeder, let pedal up) with hose on end of bleed filled with fluid to suck into it.

Nothing works for his car for some reason. I told him to bring it to a shop that has a power pump to really force the air out. Its confusing cuz When I first bleed it, it was fine. Then they switched the fluid out with DOT4 ( cuz put manual trans fluid in by mistake) and now cant get the cluch bleed. Brakes are fine.

Um, I'd be getting both systems power flushed immediately!

Trans fluid will destroy the seals in a hydraulic brake/clutch system. I've seen people that had to replace everything in their braking system due to similar mistakes.

[FocusMech.73155]

I've done all ways told, and nothing works for his car. We did talk to the Ford mechanic and he told us it needs to be pumped in through the bleeder and to pump the pedal 100 times. We did that wont work. Tried forcing it through with pump, wont go. Even tried sucking it with the pedal (push pedal down open bleeder, let pedal up) with hose on end of bleed filled with fluid to suck into it.

Nothing works for his car for some reason. I told him to bring it to a shop that has a power pump to really force the air out. Its confusing cuz When I first bleed it, it was fine. Then they switched the fluid out with DOT4 ( cuz put manual trans fluid in by mistake) and now cant get the cluch bleed. Brakes are fine.

Um, I'd be getting both systems power flushed immediately!

Trans fluid will destroy the seals in a hydraulic brake/clutch system. I've seen people that had to replace everything in their braking system due to similar mistakes.

He is right. There is a good posibility that you will need to replace everything that has rubber in it. I had a f150 in for a low brake pedal and i found out that he was adding power steering fluid to it. once a fluid other than brake fluid hits rubber in the system, it swells. He had to replace all 4 calipers, every rubber brake hose, master cylinder and the abs unit which came to about 2600 in parts and labor. I am willing to bet that a power flush will not fix your problem. the pedal feels like it isn't bleeding because the rubber in either the master or the slave is destroyed. Hopefully your brake system is ok. This could be a costly mistake. Sorry

[KRYPTO]

We are getting all new parts for clutch side, do you think we need to replace the resoivor? The brakes should be fine because we only bleed the new throw out bearing when we put the trans fluid in. All brakes have DOT4 in them now.

[ch435]

Ya, this obviously really sucks. The brakes do seem fine. We are going to replace both the master and slave clutch cylinders, and the hoses. But as mentioned, we are wondering about the resoivor where you pour the fluid in. I think maybe to be safe, just replace it. idk Also, does anybody know if the throw out bearing(slave cylinder) that comes with the exedy clutch kit is basically OEM, or is it unique somehow? They don't return calls too quickly at exedy, can't get an answer from them.

[Steve@Tasca]

I'd imagine the slave would be an OEM style part but I can't gaurantee it.

[dartfork]

When I changed out my clutch master cyl. I didn't hook up the piston correctly to the pedal and therefore it wasn't pushing it far enough. If your bleeding this because of this fix, I'd take it out and make sure you put it together correctly.

[focinite]

ive found that putting a bottle upside down on the resivior and opening the bleeder and letting gravity do all the work at first, then have at er with the pump and hold method.