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We got nowhere today....

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M

mxp01

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Gentlemen:

I posted recently about bleeding the clutch on a 1960 BE with a dual MC. Today my son and I tried bleeding the system but had no success. Let me explain what we did do:

- We detached the slave from the tranny. We pushed in the plunger while the bleeder was open. With the plunger down, we then tightened the bleeder and released the plunger. My son said the plunger would stay in place, back in the slave. Then I would pump the pedal with the bleeder closed. My son said this was not forcing the plunger out. He would only open the bleeder screw once I got the pedal to the floor. No of this seemed to generate any pressure on the system. At one point, when my son held the plunger in with his finger, we were able to feel some pressure on the foot pedal, but once he let go we were just going back down to the floor.

- We got a EZBleed type kit from the auto parts store. This had a hand pump. we attached a short tube to the bleeder screw, the tube then attached to a reservoir, and then a long tube attached to the pump. The pump could be set to vacuum. When we performed this operation we were able to draw fluid out of the hydraulic system and into the reservoir, but we never seemed to get a strong vacuum. We were also unable to get any pressure built up in the system.

- We had a spare MC cap. We drilled a hole in that, inserted a tube, attached the tube to an air pump, put the cap in the MC (which was filled with brake fluid), and tried to force enough pressure through the top in order to force all the air out. The cap was not airtight, and this approach did not do much of anything.

We are frustrated. We are considering disconnecting the slave and trying to fill it with DOT5 and then reattaching it to the system, in hopes of priming the slave.

I've read the other threads (that what we were working off today), but ANY help will be appreciated.

Mike Pennell
 
I feel for you. I've been fighting this all week as well. In the process I've tried to vacuum method, hang the slave, push the plunger, and I even made a very good pressure system that didn't work. I did learn French, but I still have air in the system somehow. I need to take a break for a week, but then I guess I'll be back at it. I just can't imagine it being this hard.
 
Mike,
I skimmed over your previous post. This is a new master cylinder right(?)
Did you bench bleed the master before installing it? (Ask me how I know to ask... :/)
You may have already done this..
I had similar symptoms as you're having..until I used the vac bleeder to bench bleed the master (took main line out and bled right at master)
After that..I have to say bleeding my slave was a non-event using the vac bleeder.

Hope this helps..that is frustrating as all get out.
 
Tip: Use Teflon tape on the bleeder screw threads (not on the sealing surface) this will help seal the bleeder and increase vacuum.



mark
 
Yes, this is a new (actually rebuilt) MC.
No, we did not bench bleed it. I did not know there was such a technique.
Does bench bleeding require some type of bleeding screw at the MC? Do I take one off the slave and attach it temporarily?
Will this effect the already bled out brake system?

I will add teflon tape to the bleeder screw. mark, you have tried this and it worked?

PLEASE let me know,

Mike Pennell
 
I wrapped the bleed screw threads like Mark suggested and then pumped fluid up through the system from a tube attached to the slave cylinder bleed screw. This seemed to work pretty good once I tightened the loose connection that I had at the slave cylinder...

Brian
 
Loose connections are not good. All of us have to deal with this issue. My problem was at the MC.
 
Mike,
So the way I did the 'bench bleed'(I did it in the car vs on the bench), was to un hook the lines (this is a dual master from a MkII) and place the vac bleeder adapter in the outlet of the MC, no bleeder..and pulled a vac until I didn't see bubbles.
Once this was done, I reattached the lines, then went about bleeding the lines the 'old fashioned' way.

I'm sure this isn't the textbook way, but it worked for me.

If you have a dual master, it will likely effect the brakes.


Let us know if you see any bubbles when you bleed the master cylinder itself..may tell us alot.

Good luck!
 
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