Bleeding clutch

[darreni]

I'm gonna bleed the clutch this weekend ( hopefully )
I believe i use the braided pipe with the nipple on the end that comes from the slave clynder?
Does the ignition need to be on or engine running?
& i assume its a case of pressing the pedal to expel the air like bleeding brakes?

Sorry if this question sounds a bit Janet & John, but I don't want to make a ( potentially expensive) balls of it by doing something silly.

TIA
Darren.

[joospeed]

engine / ignition off.
bleed through the braided pipe as you said.
have someone else press the pedal .. you only get three pumps before the master cyl is empty so you need to top-up constantly. keep going until the fluid is nice and clear .. usually 1/4 litre does it but carry on if you think it needs it. best to go slowly rather than quickly with the pumping bit(!). Never let any fluid onto the exhaust manifolds .. nice fire when it gets hot! .. so have an old towel under the bleed nipple .. and bleed into a suitably large container. other than that away you go. good luck.

>> Edited by joospeed on Friday 31st January 20:56

[rocket]

Aaaahhhh, got the old clutch bleeding procedure down to a fine art having had to do it 3 times during the Le Mans trip last year!!! Definitely need a mate or 2 with you for that.

Question for Joolz....is it possible for the rubber seals in the slave cylinder to fail when they get hot, only to come back again when it cools down?

I've been let down a few times by now by the clutch, even with a new slave. Usually the peddle comes back once you've left it a while, and I don't seem to lose fluid. It's been into the dealers a few times now, and they've never found anything wrong.....v strange?!?

[darreni]

IIIIIIIIIIIIII Thank you.

[barry]

Rocket,

I had the same problem in Le Mans last year, but thought it was the slave cylinder gone so arranged recovery to UK (fluid leaking from bell housing). In UK dealer topped up and bled system and all OK since. I think it must be when car gets hot; mine went whilst queing on ring road in Thursday evening rush hour. Any ideas Joolz? I know of at least one other Cerb with the same story!

[richardp]

I had exactly the same symptoms - losing clutch fluid when in traffic jams. I got away with it for a few months, including 2 track days, but the slave sylinder seals eventually gave up completely.

Richard

[rocket]

Barry,

Sounds very similar. We started loosing the peddle about half way down. Having experienced it before in the UK, I then limited gear changes using 2nd and 5th only. Once we hit that ringroad traffic (it was late afternoon and hot) the peddle went completely. Somehow managed to get the car into 1st gear, and trundled the last 5 miles or so without stopping, hazards on, in 1st gear.

Having lurched our way into the campsite, finally stalled it and pushed the car to our pitch. Obviously this attracted some interest from other TVRCC members, and there followed lots of advice and offers of assistance from some very helpful people. Downed a few beers (stress relief) and then borrowed a bleed kit, bought some fluid etc.

This seemed to do the job, and we went for a little test run on Friday, but decided against joining in the usual Friday afternoon fun (doh!) and risking it going again. Ended up stopping and bleeding it again on the way home on Sunday, as it started getting hard to select gears again. Pretty much stuck to 2nd and 5th again all the way back to the UK.

As we don't seem to have got to the route of the problem, I'm hoping for a cooler journey down this year, in the hope that it won't happen again.

Cheers,

Neil

[octane junkie]

Does the ignition need to be on or engine running?
quote]
for god's sake don't run the engine whilst you're doing it. Both the bleed pipe and the reservoir are dangerously close to the exhaust manifold (well on the V8 at least - can't say for the S6) and the fluid will readily catch fire if spilt on a hot manifold. In fact I would suggest you make sure it's pretty cool before attempting it. The reservoir itself is not only fun to get at (remove airbox and silicon sealed and screwed panel) but also a b*gger to top up unless you use a funnel.

Take a look at the condition of the fluid - mine had a suspension of rubber particles which were a tell-tale sign that one of the (many) seals had gone. The slave cylinder seals are relatively easy to replace - I didn't graze 1 knuckle in fact (probably 'cos Joolz did it for me ) but the master is a pain needing the transmission dropping - which I left to those nice people at NIMAG in Rotterdam.....

I can confirm what Joolz has said in other threads - that the master seals sometimes become mis-shaped, causing problems.

Of course, it's also sod's law that, if you replace the slaves the masters will then fail (whilst you're in the middle of Amsterdam, in my case )

Good luck.
Ged.

[edited to say: Sorry Joolz, missed your bit on fire hazards...]

>> Edited by octane junkie on Monday 3rd February 10:25