captainchaos

Okay so I had to bleed my clutch tonight. From what I've read on here no one seems to look forward to doing this and for this the manual is useless like it is for a number of how to's. And like I'm sure many of you can understand I wanted to get this done tonight, not tomorrow and not over the weekend. I know there are the pro pumps and whatnot but I was able to do it with no tools and it was the only way that worked for me. After trying the pump the lever and open the bleed screw (yeah right...) like the brakes I also rigged up another master cylinder and tried pushing fluid up thru the slave cylinder and that didn't work either (that seems like it should have worked). So I simply tightened everything up, opened the reservoir cap and started squeezing the rubber part of the line down at the slave cylinder between my fingers. Viola air bubbles start shooting up the reservoir. Pump the lever. Do it again. Little tap here, a little shake there on the line, add a little more fluid as needed. Do this over and over and before I know it I start getting a clutch. Now I can't believe I'm the first one to do it this way. And I know the pro mechanics might flame me and think it ghetto but it works and its easy. Thought I'd share. Fire away.

SuperHawkins

You'd be amazed the tricks pro mechanics use. KISS- Keep It Simple Stupid. Bravo for being creative and getting the job done, creativity and an open mind should be a prerequisite for mechanics!

captainchaos

Well thanks. Now obviously this won't work if you've gone to braided lines. And when I say no tools I did open the bleeder screw twice when I was done to be sure. And I also loosened up the couple places that hold the line in place so I could move it around a little more but that might not even be necessary. I still can't believe how simple it was.

nuhawk

Good job on being creative. For those of us with braided lines there is nothing short of a mess to get it done. I did just as you tried - pump it up from the bottom but the vessle that came with my pump did not like being upside down. Everytime I would pressurize it, it would push a little fluid in but leaked too! I had tried everything and was running out of patience so I just kept throwing cat litter down until it was all the way full. Since that time I got them to give me a new container at the auto parts store but it's only going to be good for one clutch charging because the gaskets on the lid are soooo flimsy. With a couple fittings and some hose you could fix up a nice filler that wouldn't leak but you do it so seldom it only seems worth it while you're cleaning up the mess

Babelfish

I've been bleeding the clutch a few times. Never emtied the system just the "No clutch" after removing the sprocet cover.
Anyway, here's my method:
Air what ever comes out of the bleed valve.
Then:
Leave the system alone a few minutes.
Then carefully open the bajnjo on the top. (When you look at the system you see that this is the highest point and where the air end up. )
Carefully pull thel lever and watch the bubles come out. Close banjo and repeat after a few minutes.
15 - 30 min. job and the clutch work just fine.

skokievtr

Mity-vac. The cheaper all plastic model with vacuum guage and bleed kit lasts a long time if you keep brake fluid out of the pump. If it gets sogged, flush it with silicone spray. I bought 3 for $20 each online years ago. On the second unit recently and gave the 3rd to a buddy.

Use it to suck the old fluid out of the resevoir, refill, use 3/16" ID hose between M-V resevoir & bleed nipple, 5 minutes your done. BTW, if you have not wrapped teflon tape on ALL the bleed nipples, have someone ready with paper towel and then hold their finger over the hole while you clean the nipple with 91% isopropyl alcohol (I buy it a CVS in bulk and keep spray bottles in the house and shop for general cleaning and degreasing (brake rotors, bolts, any surface its safe on, Bo-Peep amonia also is handy diluted 1:4 in spray bottles) and wrap it with T-tape, and quickly reinstall it. Fast fingers minimize mess. Then use the M-V. The zip-tie trick on the brake MC helps but overnight has always done it for me. I use Valvolene SuperSyn synthetic Dot 3-4 brake fluid. Relatively cheap and readily available.

No inane "nipple" and "mess" comments.

autoteach

It wasn't my car, cause I would never own one, but I was bleeding a clutch on a 90's escort and it was being a biatch. I had an electric engraver that vibrated pretty nasty on the high setting. Using the engraver and a zip tie, I manipulated the line until it "shook" all the bubbles to a bleed-able fitting.

As for the clutch, I had to do mine after doing the sprockets. Best method, bleed at the banjo and bleed screw.

Bill Kunst

Tweety

I guess I'm just lazy...

I got myself speedbleeder nipples for all brakelines and the clutchline as an X-mas present... that and some carefull bleeding at the banjo screw and it becomes really easy...