I need to replace my brake and clutch fluid on my 2001 S. Everything I have read says to go through the wheel well and good luck finding and opening the bleeder valve.

My question, for those who have done this, is would it be easier (less difficult) to remove the bottom rails and tray to gain better access? I know this creates a new set of potential problems with alignment, but I need to get this done.

Any advice is appreciated.

Bill

 

I own a Tip. I can't help you with the fluid service. However, when servicing anything underneath I found that if the car was up on four stands of equal height I could remove those rails and the pan relatively easy (needing just a little encouragement). If you're not moving the suspension (which I doubt), when you've completed the fluid service you should have no problem reassembling the plate and rails (again, with just a little encouragement). I've had my plate and rails down 2-3 times and no alignment problems at all. Just keep everything "square", and you're good to go.

 

Well, not sure how relevant this is but I just performed a similar procedure on my 06 M roadster. I found the best (and really only way to bleed a "NEW" slave (clutch) cylinder is by reverse bleeding but this should work well even if the slave cylinder isn't new. I used a "Phoenix Systems" reverse bleeder to pump up and out all of the slave cylinder brake fluid. First, I used a turkey baster to remove as much brake fluid as possible from the brake master cylinder, then as I said I hand pumped the fluid thru the slave cylinder bleeder until it filled the brake master cylinder which now had new fluid in that path. Afterwards, I used a pressure bleeder for each individual brake cylinder. With the pressure bleeder filled and set to 15lbs, I went around to each wheel and bled out all the old fluid. I had to reset the pressure a few times but it was still an easy, 1 man job.

 

Thanks for the replies. Starter, that gives me some confidence in case I need to drop everything. russpe, thanks for the tip.

I can find some info on doing this procedure on a 987, but really nothing specific to a 986. I guess I will see how it goes.

 

Bleeding the clutch on the 986 should be the same same as 987 and 981. I needed to use a crowfoot wrench (bought from Amazon) which makes it very easy.

I used a Quickjack to lift the car up and removed the left rear wheel. Access is pretty straight forward from there. I referenced these 2 videos before doing mine.

 

9eight7, thanks. These videos are very helpful. I kept searching on 986 fluid flush, not knowing that a 987 was the same. You never know with this stuff.

 

Well, I did it (twice), and I have a scratched up arm as proof.

The brakes were easy, of course, except that I had a problems with a couple of bleed nipples. One one so tight I had to tap the wrench with a hammer to loosen it, and it never did really loosen. The other, (outside front right) came loose but had no fluid coming out. I need to revisit that one next weekend.

The clutch bleeder nipple is way up there and hard to get to, but I did it with the car backed up on ramps. PITA, but doable. Made a mess. The first time I didn't pump it several times, and the clutch wouldn't come off the floor when I thought I was done. Did it again by the book, (like the video above with the red Cayman but with a small pivoting HF ratcheting socket wrench and a deep 11mm socket) and it worked out fine. Clutch feels better, though not dramatically so.

 

Those nipples... did you use penerating fluid on them... let them set for 10-20 minutes... maybe overnight? Bled my brakes and that's the first thing I did.

 

Btw, you should bleed your brakes/clutch when the car is leveled. Backing up onto race ramps is fine but you need to lift the front to level out the car.

 

Why?

 

It's standard practice to keep the car level but I'll make a few guesses as to why.

If the rear is higher than the front.
1. It could push more fluid into the MC making a mess when opening the cap and hard to gauge the correct fluid level.
2. It might not matter if the system is pressurized while you bleeding... However, if the pressure in the system falls, gravity could push air into the system before closing the bleeder valve.
3. If you didn't pressurize the MC (using Motiv Bleeder) or putting the cap on, then pumping the brakes would push fluid into the MC and spray everywhere.

If the front is higher than the rear you might not have problems...
If one side is higher than the other you might have issues if the passenger side is higher than the driver side similar to listed above.

 

 

Hi all. A bit late with my 2c, but having just done this recently, key things are:
- Raise the car (or at least the rear), and remove the left rear wheel. Nothing else needs to come off underneath or anywhere else.
- Use a pressure bleeder at the fluid reservoir. The job is pretty much impossible without one.
- The clutch pedal must be pressed to the floor when you start bleeding and not raised until the nipple is closed.
- To access the nipple, don't bother with spanners. Be prepared for some mess (use a bucket) and use an 11mm(?) socket with a long extension. That way, you can open and close the nipple from the wheel arch.
- Open the nipple fully, let a good amount of fluid come out, then close it again. Raise the pedal. If it sinks again, repeat the operation. Make sure fluid doesn't fall below the clutch hose aperture in the brake fluid reservoir.

Cheers
David