Bench Bleeding Master and Slave Cylinders

[mgedit]

I understand that it is best to bleed these on the bench before installation. Can they they be bled by "gravity" and how would one attempt this? I have early Lockheed system and no extra fitting to make up short lines to recirculate the fluid and was wondering if there is an alternative? Is bench bleeding essential to get good results or just recommended? Advice from those who have been there and done that are much appreciated. Cheers, Mike

 

[tomshobby]

Hi Mike,
I have never worked on a TR3 but for your TR6 there is no need to do anything like that to bleed the clutch master and slave. Simply park the car with the front slightly elevated and with an assistant working the pedal follow the normal process. If the slave is mounted correctly there is no need for any special gimmicks.

I can easily bleed my clutch without even jacking the car by laying on the ground and using a box end wrench on the bleeder screw.

 

[Geo Hahn]

I have always installed them w/o bench bleeding (mostly because I didn't know better) and only had difficulty once. In that case I just cracked open the fitting for the outlet line from the M/C and pumped the air out, when I got fluid I snugged it up again.

Lots of rags and protection will be in order I suppose, unless you're using DOT5.

 

[TR3driver]

I agree, bench bleeding isn't worth the mess it makes. Just loosen the outlet fitting after installing the MC, and let some of the air bubble out. When it stops bubbling, tighten the fitting and bleed as usual.

 

[mgedit]

Thanks for the input. I shall proceed without bench bleeding. Cheers, Mike

 

[TomMull]

I agree, bench bleeding isn't worth the mess it makes. Just loosen the outlet fitting after installing the MC, and let some of the air bubble out. When it stops bubbling, tighten the fitting and bleed as usual.

Best done with DOT 5. The fluid goes right under the cylinder on the Lockheed ones.

Tom