dualblade

ok so i opened up the bleeder valve to gravity bleed for a bit. fluid was in the middle of the word max so i'm ok there. dripped for a while and that was good so i got a friend to help me bleed. closed bleeder valve, he pushed down clutch, it sunk to the floor. i opened and let out some air and did this a few times. problem is that there's no evidence that anything is happening. ran through this a couple of times but i'm not even really gettin much fluid coming out. is there a reason that pushing the clutch would not draw fluid down through the slave cylinder? could my slave cylinder be broken? something else?

dualblade

no suggestions?

cruise98

Call Jason at Paragon and order a Motive Pressure Bleeder. It is the best way to get the air out without removing the master cylinder and bench bleeding the unit. I have both a mityvac and pressure bleeder, and there is no comparison for how easy the pressure bleeder makes bleeding the clutch on these cars.

My experience anyway.

dualblade

the pressure bleeder is definately my next purchase. i was trying to do this job today and drive the car somewhere tomorrow which i can't do if i have to wait for shipping. are there local stores that sell pressure bleeders? is there anyone not to far from me that has one i could borrow for a day?

MHT

Andrew, sometimes the clutch can be a pig to bleed. You can flush the air out from the bottom though. Buy an oil can, fill it with brake fluid, empty the brake fluid reservoir and use a length of vacuum hose to connect the spout of the oil can to the slave cyl. bleeder valve. Pump fluid up the line until you have a good pedal. Do not use an oil can that has been used for anything else as oil and other things can attack the seals inside the system. Good luck Mark T.

944Play

I had a bitch of a time bleeding my clutch hydraulics until I raised the rear of the car.

I even tried the reverse-bleed oil can trick, but nothing worked until I put the back wheels on about a foot of blocks. After that, it was just a matter of conventional pedal bleeding and all the air came out.

dualblade

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by 944Play:
<strong>I had a bitch of a time bleeding my clutch hydraulics until I raised the rear of the car.

I even tried the reverse-bleed oil can trick, but nothing worked until I put the back wheels on about a foot of blocks. After that, it was just a matter of conventional pedal bleeding and all the air came out.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">hmm maybe this is my trouble then. i had the front way up and the rear not jacked up at all. thanks man, i think i'll give this a shot.

dualblade

oh btw, are you supposed to bleed with the cap off or on the reservoir?

F18Rep

Hey I like that oil can idea. And I'm thinking the pressure bleeder is probably well worth the money...buuuuuut.... I already have a compressor and it seems like I could devise some way to use that as a source for power bleeding. Surely someone has come up with an alternative approach to power bleeding. Somebody, please, impress me with a little inovation...Bruce

Jay W

Innovation #1
Just did a slave cylinder on my 87 924S. Bled it myself by first getting the air out of the slave cylinder by carefully prying on the clutch fork to fully depress the slave cylinder rod and opening the bleeder screw to let out any air. There is a 2-3 inch inspection hole in the clutch bellhousing just forward of the slave cylinder that I put a long screwdriver through and was able to CAREFULLY push the clutch fork towards the slave cylinder. Then while holding it in I opened the bleeder and closed it again before releasing the bar. Did this about 5 times until no air was left down there. THEN I got in the car and pumped the clutch pedal and of course it stuck to the floorboard but it was holding a bit of pressure in the hydraulic line while it was down. On my 924 I was able to follow the hydraulic line coming from the clutch master cylinder up and over to nearly the center of the car (under the hood, not under the car). Where the line turns to go down to the clutch area there is a connection from the metal line to a rubber flex hose (like a brake hose). I used a 12mm line wrench and a 19mm open end wrench to loosen that connection and got ALOT of air. Tightened the connection back and pumped the pedal and repeated the procedure. Apparently a whole lot of air gets trapped in that high arched part of the steel line and causes a vapor lock of sorts. When I finished on top, I went back under the car and bled the slave cylinder one more time. I dont recommend trying to do this by yourself, but I was in a bind and had nobody to push on the pedal for me. I also suggest being extremely careful using a prybar around a clutch and pressure plate assembly and aluminum housings. Hope this helps, it worked for me!

F18Rep

Hey JW...I'm impressed. One man clutch bleed without some gizmo. This is the exactly the kind of post I search for. And I think you answered DB's original question too. Thanks.