Clutch hydraulics problems
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,244
Likes: 4
From: Northern KY
Clutch hydraulics problems
Sorry in advance for what I'm sure will be a long post. I just want to be sure I cover all the details first time 'round.
Over the weekend I installed a stainless steel clutch line. I had tremendous trouble getting it to bleed. I've gravity bled my clutch before and had no problems, but even using a vaccum pump I couldn't pull fluid though. I ended up using the pedal to bleed the system. After I closed everything up and tried the pedal, it felt all wrong. Increible resistance to being pushed down, and it wouldn't return on its own. There was also a loud sucking sound whenever it was depressed.
So I remove the SS clutch line, clean it, and blow through it... almost 100% blocked. I couldn't force air thru with my lungs.
So more time changing back to OEM rubber line and re-bleeding. This time it seems like I can't get all of the air out. I run a whole bottle of brake fluid thru the system before I finally stop getting bubbles, and remove the slave cyl in the process, trying to coax that last bit of air to the bleeder. After this, I test the pedal, it feels OK, so I call it a night.
Well this morning, I start the car up and it's all bad. There is a very noticeable pulsating in the clutch pedal when the engine is running and the pedal is depressed. Also, depressing the pedal bogs the engine down really badly.
When the pedal is released, it returns to the top and everything sounds/acts normal. It felt so bad that I didn't let the car run more than about 10 sec, but I'm still afraid some damage has already been done.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences as to what this might be? The only thing I can think of at this point is that I moved the clutch release fork out of position when I was reinstalling the slave cyl. I've removed it before with no problem (changed the actual clutch out myself a few months ago), but maybe this time I just wasn't paying enough attention? I can't think of what else it could be, but now I'm stuck at work worrying over it for the next several hours. What a long day
Over the weekend I installed a stainless steel clutch line. I had tremendous trouble getting it to bleed. I've gravity bled my clutch before and had no problems, but even using a vaccum pump I couldn't pull fluid though. I ended up using the pedal to bleed the system. After I closed everything up and tried the pedal, it felt all wrong. Increible resistance to being pushed down, and it wouldn't return on its own. There was also a loud sucking sound whenever it was depressed.
So I remove the SS clutch line, clean it, and blow through it... almost 100% blocked. I couldn't force air thru with my lungs.
So more time changing back to OEM rubber line and re-bleeding. This time it seems like I can't get all of the air out. I run a whole bottle of brake fluid thru the system before I finally stop getting bubbles, and remove the slave cyl in the process, trying to coax that last bit of air to the bleeder. After this, I test the pedal, it feels OK, so I call it a night.
Well this morning, I start the car up and it's all bad. There is a very noticeable pulsating in the clutch pedal when the engine is running and the pedal is depressed. Also, depressing the pedal bogs the engine down really badly.
When the pedal is released, it returns to the top and everything sounds/acts normal. It felt so bad that I didn't let the car run more than about 10 sec, but I'm still afraid some damage has already been done.Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences as to what this might be? The only thing I can think of at this point is that I moved the clutch release fork out of position when I was reinstalling the slave cyl. I've removed it before with no problem (changed the actual clutch out myself a few months ago), but maybe this time I just wasn't paying enough attention? I can't think of what else it could be, but now I'm stuck at work worrying over it for the next several hours. What a long day
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,244
Likes: 4
From: Northern KY
Spent lunch break getting under the car and checking things out. The clutch release fork had indeed slipped out of position while I was re-attaching the slave cyl. That's what I get for working while angry I suppose.
Anyway I'm really lucky it didn't do some serious damage. Even got to drive it to work!
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