How to bleed a clutch

[sylus]

can someone please post a step by step on the best way of bleeding the clutch on my 99 B4

[Joker]

about to do this - Keltik Will pop in soon and give us tips

remove TMIC to access Slave cylinder - and I assume similar to brake bleed process

replacing the TMIC is the hard part - allow a whole afternoon 0 but can be done in 1/2 hr if you know what and where to squeeze etc...

[Guest keltik]

Theres more than one way to do this, but this is my method. You can use a similar practice to brake bleeding but thats hard if you dont have a G-Clamp and a good assistant.

Step 1. Bang head off wall repeatedly

Step 2. Find a partner who understands the concept of brake bleeding

Step 3. Remove intercooler and any other crap that happens to be in the way. 10, 12 and 14mm sockets needed here.

Step 4. Fill master cylinder with fluid right to the top - do it now as shortly your hands are going to be rather full

Step 5. Remove slave cylinder (2x14mm bolts) and clamp the piston fully into the cylinder using a G-Clamp or some mad finger strength, then hold the cylinder as high as possible with the bleeder pointing straight up

Step 6. Loosen bleeder nipple right off (8mm or 10mm ring spanner?) and get assistant to pump the pedal a couple times through the full length of its stroke, this must be done by hand as the pedal will not return on its own. 5 or 6 pumps usually gets new fluid through all the lines

Step 7. Tighten bleeder and reinstall slave being carefull not to let the piston fall out

Step 8. Gently pump the clutch a couple times by hand untill it becomes firm and returns by itself (this fills the slave with fluid)

Step 9. Test the pedal a few times before you reinstall all that crap, if your clutch is disengaging nicely you should be able to select all gears with the pedal depressed and should feel good, also should be able to roll the car with the pedal depressed in gear, if not, go back to step 1

Step 10. Reinstall intercooler and all other crap, ensure fluid is at the max mark in the master cylinder, go for test drive.

And for gods sake dont let the master cylinder run dry at any point.

p.s dont try using a speed bleeder or you will spray brake fluid all over your nice clean engine

[sylus]

'legendary' keltic and joker, super fast reply too. I'm headin out there right now into my dark, cold, dingy garage to sort out and get my clutch firmer, cheers.

[Joker]

yea thanks Ben I ran out of energy to do mine on Sunday - still have around 80% free travel on my Pedal (20% actual clutch action)

[dubbedup]

maybe off topic, my clutch pedal kinda gets stuck about an inch back from the return position, just sometimes tho, could my system need a bleed or is it unrelated?

[Joker]

check return spring (if theres one? i had to lift it up with my foot in the weekend - and yes the top tank was dry... (my bad) -30kW

[Guest keltik]

Probably needs bleeding. Mine used to do it.

As far as im aware theres no return spring, im pretty sure there is a spring between the fork and engine that keeps the clutch fork in a happy place tho to prevent pedal knock off....which i lost doing my conversion

[dubbedup]

sweet

[sickmatesick]

i had that spring on my fork too before engine swap, its somewhere in the garage spent ages looking for it and just as long at the hardware store finding one suitable

[Joker]

midway through procedure now - will add Step 3a: Remove starter (1x 15mm bolt in top and 1x 15mm nut at bottom)

nearly impossible to get at slave nuts otherwise - Isolate Battery 1st!!

[Guest boostcut]

why dont you just get a homie to help you pressure bleed the system and leave the slave cylinder in place? 10 times easier... not to mention cleaner and quicker

[Guest]

 keltik said:

Probably needs bleeding. Mine used to do it.

As far as im aware theres no return spring, im pretty sure there is a spring between the fork and engine that keeps the clutch fork in a happy place tho to prevent pedal knock off....which i lost doing my conversion

There is a spring on the pedal it works as an assist ( not a return type set up )

Most likely your issue is that your pedal height and free playwill need adjusting

Also no need to remove slave cyl when bleeding clutch

after pumping the fluid thru, finish with pushing the slave cyl piston fully back before you close the bleeder nipple

[Joker]

know that now! all done in only 4 hrs to reassemble! (since last post)

[Joker]

who needed this? was tucked deep in the tech section sections