mzman

I had the entire car up on jacks do do a full brake job and decided that I need to bleed the clutch. Because when I bled the brakes the last time I didn't know about bleeding the clutch. And got air in there so the brake pedal is really soft not like it was before I bled the brakes.

Anyway, I bled the clutch with a friend pushing the clutch pedal and I have created some kind of strange vacuum where you have to lightly tap the clutch pedal and it is sucked to the floor... And this is when the bleed valve is closed. After bleeding it 20-30 times it would slowly get better, then go right back.

Then I noticed that I am supposed to have just the back off the floor... could that be the cause of my problem or is there some other strange thing going on?

shiners780

Is your friend lifting the clutch pedal while the bleed screw is still open? Get a Motive power bleeder and you will remove all doubt about what your assistant is doing with the pedals, and make your life a lot easier. It's money well spent.

I do it with both the front and rear of the car up on stands, with no problems. Some people swear by having just the rear up, front down.

Dave in Chicago

If your first try with the Motive does not cure the problem... I suggest a "gravity bleed".

Fill reservoir
Open slave bleed screw
Allow to drain for 30 minutes (it's REALLY SLOW) keeping reservoir full
Close bleed screw
Hook-up Motive
Bleed one more time

Should be good to go. This is the only thing that got rid of all little air bubbles for me, was recommended by 10+ year P-car mechanic.

Also, I just put the front of the car on ramps to bleed the clutch. None of this "raising the back corner higher" stuff. Never have, never understood it.

Be careful to NOT loosen the slave bleed screw TOO much. It doesn't take much, but the the flow (even with a Motive at 15 psi) is surprisingly slow. Don't get impatient and back the screw out "just a little more", 'cause that's when you run risk of sucking air back into the system.

Hope this helps.

mtccl

Get you a MITYVAC brake bleeder.

Keep the brake res full, crack the slave bleed screw, pump the MITYVAC until it runs clear (mine was less then 10 pumps).

5 minute job. Works like a champ.

quinnfiske

I had a hard time bleeding my clutch after a master cylinder change. I ended up opening the junction point in the pressure line back by the firewall. (Sort of near the reverence sensor connectors). Used my Mityvac to suck fluid through the master. Closed it and then sucked fluid through bleed screw at the bottom in the normal way. Worked.

mzman

I have a mityvac brake bleeder actually... Just pump it open valve and keep pumping and then check the clutch feel? I might do that after the gravity bleed...

Dave in Chicago - For the gravity bleed do I need to worry about raising one end of the car?

Dave in Chicago

Nope, doesn't seem to matter. I did mine with the front wheels on "Rhino ramps", which allows just enough room for me to get under and access the slave bleed screw.

It's also a good practice to disconnect the negative cable at the battery. That little 7mm wrench has a way of finding hot starter leads and grounds (ask me how I know).

mzman

Well I did the gravity bleed for 30 mins and noticed that it used a bit of fluid. But my Mityvac does not create a vacuum I think the fitting on the valve is not very tight.

But after the gravity bleed the clutch pedal still sucks its self to the floor whenever you touch it... So it looks like gravity bleed didn't really do anything for me, unless I need to let it go for longer.

gregeast

I used a pressure bleeder but had to give the slave cylinder a number of taps (ok, I wacked it pretty good) to help dislodge some bubbles that seemed to be getting trapped in there. With the proper encouragement they eventually decided to evactuate :-)

HTH

Dave in Chicago

Hmm...

Can't speak to the Mity Vac method, sounds like it's not creating the intended vacuum in any case. I've always used the Motive pressure bleeder method as noted above. It has consistently worked for the 944 and 968 (probably 40+ brake/clutch bleeds so far).

The clutch pedal wanting to stay about 1/3 of the way down was an issue when I bought the 944. Pressure bleeding it did the job. The only other time I got air in the clutch (reservoir level too low), gravity bleed + pressure bleed did the job. It sure sounds like you still have a couple of stuborn air bubbles in there.

Perhaps the "tapping" will dislodge them, but I really think your best friend will be a Motive. Perhaps someone in the area has one handy?

Also, you'll note that the feed to the clutch from the reservoir is pretty high up on the side. The Motive keeps the reservoir very full during bleeds, preventing air from getting sucked in at the reservoir in the process.

In absence of a pressure bleeder, I would try the "tapping" noted above with a little gravity bleeding to provide movement in the system.

If that doesn't work, it's time for 15 psi on the pressure bleeder.

crooster

After bleeding brakes many. many times with the old 2 person method I purchased a Motive bleeder and will never do it the old way again. I think its worth the $$$ especially if you track the car and need to do frequent bleeds.

apierce918

my dad and I just split the cost of a motive bleeder, and he paid for the adapter for most domestic models. should be here tuesday and i'll test it out next week sometime hopefully