Bleeding the clutch slave cylinder

[lotzagoodstuff]

So the other day I noticed my pedal was feeling a little "different", and fortunately, I got the load out of the bed at the dump, and then my pedal went to the floor in my driveway last night.

Upon inspection, there was some fluid present inside the boot, went and got another slave cylinder today (Mel, thanks for the past posts on the little installation strap ). I got it installed inside of 20 minutes, but I can't seem to get the air out of the line. I am by myself, and I was basically putting the pedal to the floor, bracing it with a 2 x 4 against the drivers seat, cracking the bleeder (who the hell put that thing where it is ) closing the bleeder, then bringing the pedal up really slow...........repeat.

I am getting a nice stream of brake fluid (actually hitting the front axle tube) but the pedal still isn't near where it needs to be. Am i wasting my time trying to do this by myself?

One last question: when I refill the master cylinder, I am pushing the rubber diafram "inside itself" and filling the reservoir as high as possible, then when the level lowers with the bleeding process, it's almost fully "expanded" into the reservoir when I go to add more fluid.

Am I missing anything, or do I just need another set of feet?

 

[snaponprofile]

I just filled the master and pumped 100+ times and kept adding. The factory slave didn't have a bleeder screw so it CAN be bled without the use of it, just keep pumping.

 

[idi traveler]

You have a bleeder! Mine doesn't and not having one from what you're going through, was a blessing. I used a syringe to fill the slave. Then bleed the air from the line and reconnected it. After that I pumped the the peddle 10 times and held it down for a minute and repeated until it felt good. Good luck.

 

[gonecrazyi]

I filled the slave with fluid before putting it in. Made the whole process a lot quicker.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

I believe the factory slave cylinder has a bleeder, it's a goofy little sunken allen screw right behind where the line goes into the slave cylinder.

The funny part is that I'm getting what I believe is a really nice stream of brake fluid, exactly what I'd like to see if it was a brake bleeder

 

[gonecrazyi]

If the slave isnt full or has air in it you will still get a steady but it wont move the arm very much or some times not at all. When I did mine I pushed the rod all the way in then had some one pour in brake fluid as I pulled the rod out. Did this a couple times and put it on. Its still took a little bit to prime up but was a lot quicker than trying to fill the slave from the get go.

Your probably just stuck on a bubble that doesnt want to give up.

 

[Simp5782]

I always use a small oil, the little pump kind, can and put a hose on it that will go over the bleeder. fill it with brake fluid. leave the cap off the master and pump fluid from the slave bleeder up.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

This bleeder isn't like a brake bleeder: it doesn't have a nipple on it, it's just a sunken allen design, so I can't really attach anything to push fluid back up to the m/c. I definitely should have filled it when it was off, but it's easy enough to pull off and start over, when it's not dark, and there's no football on tv

Live and learn, I was in a hurry and now I gotta do it twice: story of my life

Thanks for all the input.

 

[Simp5782]

reverse it then . same oil can stick the rubber hose down INTO the hose going down from the clutch master so itll have to be smaller than that. fill the clutch master and then pump the oil can itll get harder as you go.

 

[gonecrazyi]

Don't feel to bad. The first time I did mine it took me 3 days to get it right. It doesn't help I get frustrated easily at times.

 

[bike-maker]

I cussed at mine for about a full day. Mine has the bleeder valve as well, but the only way I gained anything was to just pump the clutch pedal like a wild man. I could barely get mine to the point where the clutch pedal didn't just stay on the floor when you pushed it in.
What I finally ended up doing was pumping the pedal like crazy with the engine running, then push the clutch in and got it to jam into 5th gear, then worked it down into 4th, 3rd etc, until I got it into 1st. Once into first, I just drove the truck for about 10 minutes, and the thing magically bled itself. I'm thinking all of the vibration really helps push the air bubbles out.

 

[towcat]

from the archives of 2006........


http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9851&highlight=brake+fluid+shower

(see post #10)

 

[hesutton]

I'm a big fan of bench bleeding the master, line, and slave together. Once bleed, I install the whole assembly. You gotta have help though. Hold the master below the slave, push in on the master's rod and have your helper crack the bleeder. Repeat until there is no more air and you're ready to install and use. Takes about 5 minutes to do. But it's a PITA to get the master off/on.

Heath

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

Thanks for all the input, I'm gonna give it another shot later today.

Thanks again for the details, always good to have another set of eyes even if you don't have any additional hands.

 

[82F100SWB]

I could have sworn I submitted this to the tech library, but, I dug it up again:

What always works for me is to fill the master, make sure it is fully returned, I've had to disconnect the pedal from the pushrod sometimes to do this, and then crawl under the truck and push the clutch fork and slave back(to the front of the truck) by hand slowly, bottom it out and let it slowly return to where it was resting with weight on the clutch. Do this a until you don't hear any more air in the master, then hook things back up, and 99% of the time you are merrily on your way.
That is actually Ford procedure, the shop manual calls for 10-15 cycles.
I usually just do it a bunch of times and try the pedal, then continue from there.

The other Ford method is plain old strange... With the slave off, it calls for removing the line from the slave, tipping it about 30 degrees, and filling it with fluid, rocking it as necessary to get all the air out, then installing it on the bellhousing.
Then you take the cap off the reservoir and have someone man the brake fluid keeping it full, and letting it run out of the line until it's clear of air, once it's clear, the you hook it up to the slave, and it should be bled... That is downright silly if you ask me.