wkilleffer
Jedi Knight

Offline
At the risk of asking an FAQ here, here goes... Also, I'm just about angry enough that my normal, erudite and articulate nature may desert me, so hope this makes sense and doesn't go too long...
The car is a 1974 MGB. It recently suffered a clutch hydraulic failure. So, I decided to change out all of the hydraulic parts. I was never all that happy with the master cylinder. It came from a parts company in Knoxville, TN, and among other things, I had to remove the cap on the brake MC in order to remove the cap on the clutch MC. I ordered the MGB clutch hydraulic replacement kit from Moss for around $60. I've done this job before, so it didn't seem all that terrible. Got the MC in place, hooked up to the pedal and the metal line. Working with the pedal box isn't my favorite thing, but it's at least doable.
Now, the slave cylinder had some kind of note with it stating that the inlet and bleed screw might be reversed, and the supplied hose wouldn't be long enough unless the bleed screw were swapped to the other hole. Starting to think that's a bug that Moss is trying to turn into a feature because they screwed up their last batch of clutch hoses. Either way, that puts the bleed screw above the inlet hole. That doesn't seem like a workable thing.
So, got everything in place, clutch cylinder mounted, hose on, pushrod in place and fastened to the clutch fork, and my handy-dandy new one-man brake bleeder. Before anyone asks, this is *not* an Eez-Bleed or anything else that uses some kind of air pressure. It's this: > One-Man Brake Bleeder <
A hose with a one-way valve in it that sticks into a small bottle. Supposed to allow one person to bleed brakes and clutches and the valve keeps air from being drawn back into the system while pumping the pedal. My experience with one in the past is that it works well as long as it's tightly fastened around the bleed nipple. My experience with other more complex gadgets has been a let-down, to say the least...
It's a good thing it's a one-man thing because I live alone and don't have anyone I can enlist for help with this sort of task. If you ever meet me, this might make sense... So, please don't tell me to phone a friend or enlist any help. If it gets done, it's because I do it. I don't have anyone I can call. Not for this, anyway.
Anyhow, I open the screw a bit with the bleed thing hooked on, pump the pedal about 10 times, check the level in the MC, and it's in between the Max and Min. Look in the bleeder, and there's a small amount in the hose and bottle, but it looks like the screw is allowing some fluid to drip out, which probably means air is getting back in.
But that might be a moot point anyway. Starting to find out that it might be all for naught given that the bleed screw is up above the inlet, which may mean it's not going to bleed and air will be trapped inside regardless.
So, what to do now, given that I have myself, hand tools, my one-man bleeder?
Any advice would be appreciate pretty well as long as it doesn't include "go out and buy an Eez-bleed or similar" or "get your friend/neighbor/SO to pump the pedal for you." What I have is what I have, and it needs to be made to work.
Thank you,
-William
The car is a 1974 MGB. It recently suffered a clutch hydraulic failure. So, I decided to change out all of the hydraulic parts. I was never all that happy with the master cylinder. It came from a parts company in Knoxville, TN, and among other things, I had to remove the cap on the brake MC in order to remove the cap on the clutch MC. I ordered the MGB clutch hydraulic replacement kit from Moss for around $60. I've done this job before, so it didn't seem all that terrible. Got the MC in place, hooked up to the pedal and the metal line. Working with the pedal box isn't my favorite thing, but it's at least doable.
Now, the slave cylinder had some kind of note with it stating that the inlet and bleed screw might be reversed, and the supplied hose wouldn't be long enough unless the bleed screw were swapped to the other hole. Starting to think that's a bug that Moss is trying to turn into a feature because they screwed up their last batch of clutch hoses. Either way, that puts the bleed screw above the inlet hole. That doesn't seem like a workable thing.
So, got everything in place, clutch cylinder mounted, hose on, pushrod in place and fastened to the clutch fork, and my handy-dandy new one-man brake bleeder. Before anyone asks, this is *not* an Eez-Bleed or anything else that uses some kind of air pressure. It's this: > One-Man Brake Bleeder <
A hose with a one-way valve in it that sticks into a small bottle. Supposed to allow one person to bleed brakes and clutches and the valve keeps air from being drawn back into the system while pumping the pedal. My experience with one in the past is that it works well as long as it's tightly fastened around the bleed nipple. My experience with other more complex gadgets has been a let-down, to say the least...
It's a good thing it's a one-man thing because I live alone and don't have anyone I can enlist for help with this sort of task. If you ever meet me, this might make sense... So, please don't tell me to phone a friend or enlist any help. If it gets done, it's because I do it. I don't have anyone I can call. Not for this, anyway.
Anyhow, I open the screw a bit with the bleed thing hooked on, pump the pedal about 10 times, check the level in the MC, and it's in between the Max and Min. Look in the bleeder, and there's a small amount in the hose and bottle, but it looks like the screw is allowing some fluid to drip out, which probably means air is getting back in.
But that might be a moot point anyway. Starting to find out that it might be all for naught given that the bleed screw is up above the inlet, which may mean it's not going to bleed and air will be trapped inside regardless.
So, what to do now, given that I have myself, hand tools, my one-man bleeder?
Any advice would be appreciate pretty well as long as it doesn't include "go out and buy an Eez-bleed or similar" or "get your friend/neighbor/SO to pump the pedal for you." What I have is what I have, and it needs to be made to work.
Thank you,
-William