jchapura

I went to flush my clutch and brake fluid tonight (for the first time since I became owner) and ran into some trouble.

The cap, nor the power bleeder adapter, remains "tight" near the bottom of the thread travel. As you near the bottom, and it's snugging, it "pops" looser, as if jumping a thread. Of course, I ignored this on the adapter until I pumped 300 ml of brake fluid into the frunk. God bless me and my language, as I envisioned my frunk paint melting as if being stripped...

After pulling the "carpet" and such, I think the body's been rinse/cleaned.

Is the reservoir on top of the master cylinder a replaceable part? Any other ancillary parts I should get? (Anyone have part numbers?) I tend to think the problem is in the threads on the reservoir rather than the cap because both the cap and the power bleeder adapter exhibited the same almost-snug-then-pop-loose. I'm hoping not to have to do a full bleed (ABS) because of having to R&R the whole master cylinder.

Any other tips-n-tricks to get me to a point where I can bleed the brakes?

I think the car is drive-able with the original cap because there's no pressure inside the reservoir.

platinum997

Are the threads visibility damaged on the reservoir? There big threads, it would be hard to mess them up I would think.

Are you sure it's not the cap?

jchapura

I think it's not the cap because the brand new power bleeder adapter exhibited the same loosening when I tried to snug it up.

jchapura

Also, how does one decouple/disengage the clutch hydraulic line that goes to the reservoir?

platinum997

Pretty good article here. It should help if you actually need to replace it.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm

jchapura

Thanks platinum997. I re-looked at the threads on the reservoir and they look as if the threads have been filed-down, reducing the amount of thread engagement that's available to the cap.

I hope I can find the parts locally; there are three dealers in the area...

Petza914

Temporarily, you may be able to wrap some aluminum foil around the threads to give the power bleeder cap something to grab onto. If you can get the cap tight, it's the rubber seal under the cap that seals the bleeder to the reservoir so it shouldn't leak, even when pressurized.

jchapura

Thanks Pete - that did the trick. I was able to flush the brakes and the clutch.

Before I flushed the clutch, I installed my remote bleeding hose. It worked nice - no more going underneath the car for that job.

I did scare myself though. When I was about to take it for a test ride, I had trouble getting it into reverse and first, and it kept popping out. I basically couldn't get out of the driveway. Back into the garage I went; up on the jacks again. What could I have done? Clutch was engaging and disengaging OK.

When underneath the car and staring at the bleeder area, I noticed a light that was going on and off as I moved the shift linkage. Say what? A light? Stuck my hand up there - I had forgotten a small flashlight on top/side of tranny. Ohhh boyyyy. What a goober...

Petza914

Awesome. Glad it worked for you.