Jump to content

bleeding clutch?


mlawso16

Recommended Posts

Posted

Is there a trick to bleeding the clutch on the stag?

It started off with it slipping ie not dis engaging. closer investigation at the slave looked like it needed bleeding and it seemed to go well as air came out, from here it went down hill and i went from at least being able to drive it to not being able to select a gear at all. even closer inspection then lead to me finding out the slave cylinder was weaping ah ha! i thought. so today i invested in a new one.

simple i thought... no its still much the same, although this one doesnt leak. At first i seemed to get air out and then a constent stream of fluid. how ever theres no resistance at the clutch

im guessing you bleed it like the brakes? Have an assistant depress it slowly whilst fliud comes out and then lock it off. Have done this many a time now and theres just no differance. i have even tried to take the top connector off at the master and pushed the pedal theres definatly pressure up there forcing the liquid.

so am i missing some thing?

oh and the clutch lever does seem to move. obvoiusly not enough though!


Posted

Pretty much the same way as the brakes indeed.  Do make sure the bleed screw is uppermost - what I mean here is that on some systems the slave cylinder may need to be rotated to ensure this as when fully bolted up the bleed can be only just above the centreline of the fluid feed union which can allow some air to remain in the slave cylinder.  That means bleeding the system with the slave mounting bolts left off, cylinder rotated, then mounting as it should be.
In my opinion the clutch lever doesn't need to move much really to make the clutch engage/disengage.

There may be some others coming along soon with other ideas, but this is one niggle I know the system can have.

Julian

Posted

Do you have any idea how much movement in the clutch lever i should see?

I get about 1/2 inch when you press the clutch down. however the pedal is very soft till the last 2 inch. Even then it dont feel to good.

Posted

Can't say offhand how much mine moves, but before I rebuilt the whole 'box and clutch lever arm assembly it was maybe 1/2 an inch or slightly less.   Pedal on mine isn't heavy but does have a bit more to it than a modern shopping trolley car.

More stuff to think about:
The clutch operating cross shaft can show wear in its bearings in the clutch housing.  Any play here will be at the cost of less clutch disengagement.  Get someone to stomp on the pedal as you look at the crosshaft moving in the bearing on both sides of the housing to see if there is any excess wear.
The clutch release fork can rotate on the cross shaft if the bolt has sheared.  Not uncommon and obviously has similar effect on clutch release.  You'll really only find out about this by pulling the 'box out.

Have you tried the clutch system without the slave operating arm being attached to the cross shaft arm?   You'd have to have an assistant press the pedal while you hold on to it with your hands in case it all comes out.....  But thinking out aloud here - if it doesn't move more than when attached to the cross shaft arm then I'd gather that the problem is not the wet side of the system but the cross shaft, release fork or something else inside the clutch housing.

Julian

Posted

It did work upto a few days ago when i decided it wasnt right and kept slipping ie sink the throttle and let the clutch out at this point it would slip if you did it gradualy like you was just changing gear it was ok. more noticable when you wish to pull away quick at junctions. At this point i had a clutch with full travel and i could feel it.

hence my query regarding set up and bleed process of the system

just found out it works great if you select the gear before you start it but then you cant get another gear. (remember next time to see if its in nutral before trying to start the car)

Posted

Make sure the nipple is at the top as air can be trapped in the system.

Might also be worth changing the master cylinder as they both age at the same rate.

Posted

cheated and found my easy bleed kit. found the right cap and took the cylinder off. there was lots of air still in there. bled it through and bingo i now have a clutch and can change gear.

many thanks for all the comments though. if it still seems to give up after a while i;ll have a go at changing the master cylinder.

smile back on my face now.

marc

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...