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TR2/3/3A Bleeding Hydraulics

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frankfast

Jedi Trainee
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Recently replaced both master cylinders and slave cylinder and now must bleed the system. I removed as much of the old fluid from the calipers and wheel cylinders as possible with a Mitivac and blew the lines out with compressed air. Starting with the rear driver side wheel cylinder, will I be able to draw fluid from the reservoir with the Mitivac? Is it wise to fill the master cylinders with fluid before attaching the lines? Looking for the most effective way to fill the system assuming it is completely empty.
 
Don’t know anything about the MityVac, but I think you want to start at the rear passenger-side wheel cylinder; that’s the furthest from the MC, I believe.
 
frankfast said:
...rear driver side is the furthest from the reservoir.
Click to expand...

You are correct - it is a bit counter-intuitive.

No harm in trying the Miti-vac - though I have had better luck using a pressure bleed on an empty system.

I never bother to bench-bleed the MCs (fill them before installing) if things won't get moving you can always crack open a hard line at the MC and that usually gets it started.
 
Yes. I have not done this on a TR3 but seems viable. When I do it on the other cars I simply fill the reservoir and introduce about 12psi of air into a connection fitted to a spare reservoir cap.
 
frankfast said:
If you follow the lines, the rear driver side is the furthest from the reservoir.
Click to expand...

Well that’s good to know, as I’ve been following this thread. I sent my calipers off to get rebuilt, so I will be
filling and bleeding the hydraulic system, hopefully sometime soon.

All this time, I thought the passenger side was furthest... another reason I love this site!
 
Just finished bleeding the system using a Mity-Vac starting with the rear driver side. Went around the four wheels twice and seems to be working well. Noticed that the inner chamber of the reservoir is for the clutch master cylinder while the outer chamber is for the brakes. It seems the chambers are isolated from each other and don't share the fluid. I'll probably bleed the system once more after taking it for a ride and then adjust the stops on the master cylinders to get the pedals where they are comfortable. The slave cylinder will also need to be adjusted. By the way, I did decide to use silicone - less messy.
 
frankfast said:
...Noticed that the inner chamber of the reservoir is for the clutch master cylinder while the outer chamber is for the brakes...
Click to expand...

And if you put the reservoir label on the right side the 'Brake' and 'Clutch' wording at the bottom will align with the respective outlets.

cvNKBb7.jpg


Looks a bit goofy like that though... I suspect the label was designed with the RHD cars in mind.
 
I never noticed that. The label on my reservoir faces the front of the car and I believe that they coordinate with the lines coming out the bottom. It looks like your reservoir is clamped on with screws while mine is permanently attached to the master cylinder support.
 
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