With all of the posts about bleeding clutches I figure I would toss in
my adventures. I don't have to much to offer on what to do, but I can
tell you several things not to do! I rebuilt my clutch master
cylinder and replaced the slave.
A lister who shall remain nameless :-) suggested that if I could, I
should bleed the clutch upwards by forcing in the fluid from the
slave. This sounded like a good idea, but I had been drinking. So I
make a reservoir to hold the fluid. One side had an input for
compressed air and the other side had an output for the new brake
fluid. So I connect "Bill's upside down bleeder" TM and turn the
compressor to about 4 PSI. I open up the blow gun and in goes the
fluid. Close the bleed screw and try the clutch. Mush. Suck some
fluid out of the master cylinder with a turkey baster (don't tell
Lisa) and try again. After about a zillion tries without any better
results I figure I would try one last time. That was a big mistake.
I am under the car and the hose to the bleed nipple comes off. This
allows the brake fluid to come out a furious rate. The brake fluid
then sprays on the car, the transmission, my arm, the top of my head
and my face. Good news is I got none in my eyes. If you have ever
have gotten lots of brake fluid on some tender skin it sort of warms
it up, and I'll admit that feels good. Then you scalp starts to burn.
All I can picture is a large chemical burn on the top of my head and
half my hair missing. Those of you that have met me know that I need
my hair to be this good looking. At this point panic starts to set
in. I run to the front yard and grab the hose and start to spray my
head and face. This does not really help wash brake fluid out of your
hair. My next bright idea is a couple of heaping handfuls of GOJO in
the hair. This is working better but now I really stink and GOJO just
makes a mess out of the hair. So I finished with an alcohol rinse.
What a show I must have put on for the neighbors. A final shower got
rid of the smell and I still have my hair.
I think the protective grease and dirt coating on the bottom of my car
protected the paint from the brake fluid. One other thing about this
method, you can pump enough fluid up into the master cylinder so that
it overflows into the engine compartment.
Method two was just the standard pumping of the pedal. That was a
failure but I did not wear any fluids.
Method three was to try the Easy-bleed. I still could not get a firm
pedal. The I realized that I had the front of the car jacked up and
if there was air in the slave cylinder it would never exit since the
bleed screw was at the back of the master cylinder. So I pull the
jack around the back of the car and realize that the gas tank was way
to close to the ground to get the jack under the car to the pumpkin.
I did find that you can reach the pumpkin with a jack from the side of
the car. Now I place the car on four jack stands with the rear higher
then the front. Once again I try the Easy-bleed in in two tries I get
a firm brake pedal.
I learned a lot, but the most important is the only fluids that should
be on the head are bodily fluids.
--
Later,
Bill mailto:w.gilroy@verizon.net
"Facts are the enemy of truth"
77 Midget
90 Shar-Pei
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