Access to the clutch slave cylinder bleed screw

[John Turney]

The parts are in near new condition from when it was restored, it just sat for some time. Honestly, the master and slave look as if they came out of a catalog yesterday. I'm *hoping* the play is coming from the need to bleed. The fluid I pulled from the brakes was pretty dark, but there wasn't much debris. I'll put the car up on jack stands tonight and report back. I'll also try to take some pictures.

The outside may look new, but rubber parts decay with age, not necessarily miles.

 

[kozelding]

To add 2 cents to your original question, like others, I just unbolt the slave cylinder (from underneath the car) to bleed it. The top bolt can be tricky, but a cheapie offset wrench works for me:

Edit: I've heard those slave bolts often strip out -- steel threaded into alumunium, awkward angle to start the threads, etc -- but I've always been careful and, knock on wood, never had a problem to date.

 

[trotti]

The outside may look new, but rubber parts decay with age, not necessarily miles.

John - thanks. Quite literally - nearly everything on this car is like new except for some of the trim/chromed pieces (the alum. cockpit moulding is atrocious, but the chrome is "good" and paint is excellent). It was the very happy benefactor of a frame-off restoration about eight years ago and then it apparently sat for several years. As a result, most of the issues I've found relate to the fact that it was stored for so long after that restoration (fuel, hydraulic, carb issues). I'll do a double check on the rubber parts for good measure, though. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[trotti]

kozelding - placed an order for these this morning after reading your post. All I needed was a good excuse to add to my collection of tools!

 

[trotti]

Update #2 - persistence paid off. I still couldn't get access to the bolt holding the slave to the bell, but I was able to get access to the bleeder screw with some patience using a plain old wrench. I gravity bled the clutch and although the fluid was quite dirty, there were no air bubbles that I could see. I was hoping that I would find a lot of trapped air that caused the additional play in the clutch. Could it be that the air pockets are somehow stuck in the slave and bleeding is not addressing?

Back to the "play" in the clutch pedal issue - I want to be clear in how I'm explaining the concern. The pedal will move freely with no apparent pressure/actuation of the master cylinder/clutch for about 5 inches (the actual travel was less when I bothered to measure - my guestimate was off). The clutch does seem to fully engage and disengage, but I'm not sure of that. I checked the clevis pins on the slave and they are essentially as new (although there is some weird cruddy buildup that looks to be the result of the difference in metals used for the plunger, clevis, washer, etc.). Could the master or slave cylinders have air trapped in it that isn't working its way through the system when I bled? It shifted easily before and after bleeding and the clutch was sensitive, but appeared to engage/disengage normally.

Thanks for the help so far - very useful to someone new to the Austin Healey family.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

... Could the master or slave cylinders have air trapped in it that isn't working its way through the system when I bled?...

Very likely. I don't think gravity bleeding is sufficient; it won't get air out of the M/C for instance. I pressure bleed with a reservoir cap fitted with a Schrader valve; you could have someone help you do it the 'old-fashioned' way (pump and hold, repeat).

 

[Keoke]

To add 2 cents to your original question, like others, I just unbolt the slave cylinder (from underneath the car) to bleed it. The top bolt can be tricky, but a cheapie offset wrench works for me:

Me TOO-
kozelding

Just did not wnt to go through the removal process again. :highly_amused:

 

[steveg]

I pull it through from the bottom with the bleeder syringe:

 

[John Kuzman]

I bought an assortment of different size livestock syringes at Tractor Supply. Great multipurpose tool for brake fluid push/pull work, adding dashpot oil, filling steering box, etc.

 

[trotti]

Update 3: got it figured out but there's a new mystery (isn't that how it usually works?). The clutch pedal is simply returning too far. It's about Five inches closer to the back of the car than the brake pedal and I can see the end of the rod on the clutch master (the portion that's supposed to be inside the master cylinder) resting against the bottom of the dust cover. The spring is pulling too far back towards the rear of the car.

Shouldnt that movement be arrested by the master cylinder so the rod doesn't back that far out?

 

[GregW]

Do your springs look like these? Seems odd they would do what you're describing.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Should be a small disk--for lack of a better term--held in with a circlip that stops the reverse travel of the piston push rod.

 

[steveg]

Ignore the rubber seal in the picture - the cup washer is held in by the circlip - this retains the pushrod inside of the clutch cylinder. Sounds like yours doesn't have the circlip installed in its groove.

 

[trotti]

I think it may be that disc/circlip issue. I took a picture; you can see the bulge in the dust cover. Confirming what I fear - does disassembly of this to install the circlip require that I drain the hyrdaulic system?

 

[HealeyRick]

I think it may be that disc/circlip issue. I took a picture; you can see the bulge in the dust cover. Confirming what I fear - does disassembly of this to install the circlip require that I drain the hyrdaulic system?

No. Just remove the rubber dust cover. Hopefully, you'll find the circlip is there and became dislodged. Refit the circlip. It might help to have an assistant push down on the brake pedal to push the plunger far enough back in the bore so you can get to the circlip groove. Position the circlip so the holes are at the top so you can get to them with the circlip tool from above.

 

[trotti]

Thanks HealeyRick - I'll give that a shot tonight and report back. Will be glad to have this tackled as it's annoying having the clutch sit so high.

 

[trotti]

And that did the trick! The circlip appears to have come out of its groove somehow. The washer, circlip and pushrod came flying out with the pressure of the spring pushing the clutch pedal back as soon as I slid the dust cover back. Reinstalled the circlip and it works just fine. The problem I noted above with slop/slack in the clutch is fixed. Very happy about this one. Now I have pressure in the pedal throughout its travel and all is working as expected.

 

[Keoke]

The circlip appears to have come out of its groove somehow.

--------PO,PO,PO.--:highly_amused:


Glad you got it fixed-----

 

[trotti]

The circlip appears to have come out of its groove somehow.

--------PO,PO,PO.--:highly_amused:


Glad you got it fixed-----

Thanks everyone for your help! I've learned quite a lot about the slave cylinder and now the master cylinder/engagement with the clutch pedal since this repair (minor though it may be). This would likely be something a real mechanic experienced with these cars could have fixed in a few minutes, but isn't that what makes this a hobby? Perhaps next time I won't be so slow on the uptake . . .

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Thanks everyone for your help! I've learned quite a lot about the slave cylinder and now the master cylinder/engagement with the clutch pedal since this repair (minor though it may be). This would likely be something a real mechanic experienced with these cars could have fixed in a few minutes, but isn't that what makes this a hobby? Perhaps next time I won't be so slow on the uptake . . .

I recommend buying the book "Tech Talk" from British Car Specialist for lot's of tips working on the Healeys.