nine9six

OK, 96 993 clutch slave bleed went smoothly till I tightened the bleed screw and tried the clutch pedal.
The pedal sucked itself to the floorboard. Does this mean air in the system, or does this indicate that I need to bleed at the master as well?
Direction woujld be appreciated
Thanks fellas

Top-Gun

I just went through this and did the exact same thing. When you bleed the clutch put as much fluid in the reservoir as it will take. The clutch circuit pulls from the rear of the reservoir but rather than pulling from the bottom like the brakes, it has a tube that pulls from near the top.

If the fluid dropped even a little below the "max" line you probably sucked air into the clutch system while trying to bleed it. When you do this the spring loaded clutch pedal slams into the floor since theres no hydraulic resistance.

Fill it right up and bleed it multiple times until the pedal hardens up, adding fluid each time to keep it full.

Vorsicht

You may want to first try pumping the pedal with your hand to build up pressure. When I replaced my slave cylinder I had to pump like a hundred times before it came back to life.

Top-Gun

That's a good point, if your bleeding with a pressure or vacuum bleeder it helps between bleed cycles to pump the pedal multiple times to help free any stubborn bubbles.

nine9six

Top Gun hit the nail on the head, as this is exactly what seems to have occured.

So the fix is to keep bleeding, making sure I have a full brake reservoir while doing so, till the pedal comes back?

When I perform this procedure, do I start with the clutch pedal in the up position (I can pull it back up and it will stay due to the return spring tension) Or, do I leave it to the floor and start with the procedure? I'm inclined to pull the pedal back up and start there.
Any thoughts, advice, direction?

Oh yeah, using a Motive Power bleeder at the brake master reseviour and will pump between bleeds.

Tried pumping the clutch pedal by hand cause I need to pull it back to the top...That pedal feels like it has suction on it as it snatched the pedal from my hand as I tried the first pump and slammed the pedal to the floorboard. Hmmm, that cant be right...

NC TRACKRAT

Pull it up and start from there. Don't worry...unless the slave cyl. is shot, it'll come back...But you must keep that reservoir topped up.

eddie_993

If you are not in a hurry (i.e. need to finish this weekend) get the Motive Power bleeder. Seems like you just have to bleed it a few more times.

nine9six

NC,
That was my thought as well. I pursued that course and now it's all jam up and jelly tight!

Thank you to all who responded and saw me through my mishap. You guys rock

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

JMHO,.....based on some experience with this.

1. I use a pressure bleeder and I fill the bleeder reservoir just to keep this sort of thing from happening. In this fashion, you'll never have a reservoir go dry and have to start all over again. Brake/clutch fluid isn't expensive, really.

2. I go to great lengths to NEVER bottom a master cylinder (clutch or brake). This protects the seals from a premature failure due to being pushed over rough & corroded spots in the MC bore. Pumping the pedal to the floor is an accelerated path toward buying a new master cylinder.

I sure hope this helps save someone from an expensive & unnecessary expense.

nine9six

Steve,
In reading my mishap and in your professional opinion, did I bottom my clutch master when bleeding and introducing air into the system?

I have read your cautionary note in item #2 before. Perhaps it was even a note by you in another post...

Thanks for chiming in!

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

If you bottomed the pedal while bleeding, yes you did,... One should not need to touch it during the process.

nine9six

Yes Steve, I agree with you...But at the point when I initially depressed the clutch pedal, I was finished with the bleed and successful in flushing the old fluid. Clutch slave bleed screw was completely closed, but the Motive power bleeder was still connected to the brake master; (which should not have made a difference.) Right? Since there was very little fluid (abt 3/16") remaining in the Motive bleeder, I can only assume I sucked air at some point.

After repeating the process (sans the air sucking portion), I currently have a good healthy clutch pedal. Just gonna have to hope any crap build up was negligible and that I didn't damage the seal. Records show new clutch slave installed in 2010, so knock on wood

kjr914

It doesn't really pull it from the top, but the clutch has its own compartment in the brake fluid reservoir at the back (rear of car). Its a wall separating it from the brake sections, so that fluid remains if the brakes leaked out completely & vice versa. The only way to fill that rear compartment is to have fluid flow over the top of the wall, so keeping the reservoir filled way up is key.

Many of us have made this exact same error in bleeding the clutch...

nine9six

Ahhh, so if I understand you correctly Keith, it would have been better to have evacuated the brake fluid from the brake reserviour with a turkey baster; and bled the clutch slave by pumping fluid in from the bleed screw on the clutch slave?

This method would seem to "push" air out of the system which is the purpose of bleeding in the first place, right?

NC TRACKRAT

Let me jump in here by saying, yes, but you shouldn't "push" initially because the clutch slave cyl. is the lowest point in the system. Crud and water will collect there. (Folks have been known to have their clutch slaves freeze up in cold weather because the water in the slave froze.) That's why it's important to evacuate it initially from the bottom. If you have trouble getting the air out, then you can "reverse flush" if need be because you will not be forcing contaminated fluid upwards into the reservoir.