Stiletto

So, I got up the courage to do a little work on the 951: Replaced the old brake lines with Paragon's stainless steel lines, and re-filled with fresh brake fluid. Probably easy stuff for most of you guys, but I'd never done it before so I was a little worried.

Brake lines were pretty simple to replace. The retaining clips holding the old lines in were a little tough, but otherwise things went well. I used the Motive Power Bleeder to bleed the brakes and the slave cylinder. Got everything back together, sat in the driver's seat and BAM--clutch pedal snaps to the floor as soon as I touch it. Also, the brake pedal travels a bit longer than it should before engaging the brakes.

It seems that I didn't bleed the lines properly.

However I thought I did everything right:

1. Pressurized Motive tool
2. Opened the bleeder on the caliper and waited for all the bubbles and old fluid to pass. Once I saw the new fluid I close the screw.
3. Did the above for all 8 bleeders, in the correct order.
4. Bled the slave cylinder in the same way.

I think what may have happened is I let the fluid reservoir get kind of low during the slave cylinder bleed, and might have forced some air through the system. Once I realized this, I re-did the slave cylinder bleed and waited for the bubbles to stop, and thought that would be fine.

So on to my questions:

1. Anyone have any other suggestions for what I might try to solve this, besides re-bleeding everything from scratch?

2. Should I not have used the Power Bleeder for the clutch slave cylinder?

3. The real silly question: Where can I get some more ATE Super Blue fluid? Do any major chains carry it? I sent away for the quart I used, and went through it all!

Thanks in advance for any help. You guys have all helped me a lot in the past when I've screwed things up

xsboost90

not sure if you did but start w/ the furthest brake caliper from the master cylinder and work your way closer- right rear, left rear, right front, left front. Once you see bubbles coming out just keep bleeding for a few seconds. You may just need to rebleed the master cylinder since it got dry. Just push/pull the brake pedal back and forth a dozen times w/ the resevoir full before you bleed the rest of the system. THe clutch can be tricky to bleed sometimes. Just make sure you have a full resevoir the whole time you are bleeding.

Stiletto

Thanks for your advice! Yes, I bled the brakes in the right order. I will try re-bleeding the clutch system tomorrow. You said re-bleed the master cylinder. Where is the bleeder on the master cylinder?

xsboost90

no bleeder on the master cylinder. Just pump the pedal awhile and it should get the air out. Then bleed the brakes.

Darwantae951

Use the motive and bleed the clutch system from the slave cylinder.

plumbum

Also you could try slowly pushing and pulling the cluch pedal to see if that helps build up pressure

Stiletto

Well, the Renn-tard of the day award goes to me. I was operating the Power Bleeder incorrectly. Note to self: Uou have to fill the PB with brake fluid, not just the reservoir.

Re-bled, pumped the clutch pedal a little, and it's good as gold. The brakes are still a little spongey, but I can re-bleed them some other time without having to crawl under the car.

Thanks for the help!