Issues bleed clutch...

[99em1]

Trying to bleed the clutch without a power bleeder right now and it's giving me trouble. Pump up the clutch, have my buddy hold it down while I crack the bleed on the slave. I let some fluid out, close the bleed and my buddy lets the clutch come up. The pedal stays on the floor, so I lift it back up, and it's fine. Not fine enough to shift gears with the car on though.

But even with the clutch pressed, and the bleed screw tight, I can still see fluid/bubbles whatever came out slowly go back up the hose into the slave. I can't prevent it from getting sucked back up!

Slave/master are new, and I can't see any leaks.

[whodwho]

Make sure the fluid level in the reservoir is not getting too low, the pickup for the clutch is not very far below the surface when topped off.

I assume by seeing fluid/bubbles you are saying in the bleeder hose? If the bleeder is closed I wouldn't worry what you see in the bleeder hose. You can also just leave the bleeder open and stick your finger over the end/opening creating a check valve so it won't suck air back in when bleeding.

If you are getting a bit of a pedal you can also short pump (just move the pedal a couple inches) the master and some of the air in the master should travel back up the supply hose.

[jlevie]

Grab the clutch pedal and give it about 50-75 vigorous pumps, it will self bleed. If that fails to result in a normal pedal, replace the master cylinder. Yes I see that it is new, but even a new part can be bad.

[99em1]

Should I leave the reservoir cap on or off while I bleed/pump the pedal?

And yes I was referring to the bleeder fish tank tubing. But why is it ok that fluid/air is going BACK to the slave even with the screw closed?

Last night I was pumping the clutch by hand with the bleeder open with a long tube attached, and keeping an eye on the tube I could make sure the air wasn't getting pulled back in. Started the car, and there was a little progress. Before I couldn't shift into gear at all, and this time it still couldn't, but seemed to move a little more than before and grind a little trying to get into first.

Tried the same thing today and the pedal seemed to have a lot more pressure, but then somehow reverted back to square one and the pedal would stick to the floor. Fluid level was always watched.

[whodwho]

Should be fine with the cap on as long as the vent in it isn't plugged, but leave it off while bleeding.

Are you only opening the bleeder on the downstroke of the clutch pedal?

[99em1]

Whenever I open the bleeder screw only on the clutch downstroke, the pedal never comes back up after I tighten the screw.

So far the best results I've gotten were from pushing the clutch up and down by hand with the bleeder opened and keeping an eye on where the air pockets in the tube are.

[jlevie]

For the pedal to return, the slave cylinder rod must be pushed back by the pressure plate acting on the clutch fork. That won't happen when you open the bleeder at the slave. Do what I suggested and self-bleed the clutch, or use a pressure bleeder.

[whodwho]

Or at least close the bleeder when you pull back on the pedal so only open the bleeder on the down strokes.

As mentioned above it can/will self bleed but helps (won't take as long) if you have a bit of pedal first.

[99em1]

Ok few questions. Bled it a tiny bit again, and now my pedal is firm, probably close to how it normally is. But what I'm curious about is:

1. The first inch of travel is pretty light, then the rest of the pedal travel becomes firm quick.
2. The pedal isn't as far from the firewall as much as the Bentley suggests, short like an inch, but still fully depresses the cruise control off switch in its resting position.

[whodwho]

Normally there will be a slight bit of travel before starting to become firm unless over adjusted. There could also be a slight bit of air left that will probably self bleed out.

If you can shift into reverse without grinding you should be good to go, most would adjust their clutch stops to limit the travel close to that.

[99em1]

Weird, I could get it in and out of gear without a problem with the jack on stands, but now that its back on the ground with the car off I had to give it some effort to pull it out of the gear it was in. Pushing it into 1st doesn't feel like its in all the way and 3rd only feels like it's half in.

Gotta charge up the battery and see if anything changes with the car running but I doubt it'll make a difference.

If its something in the bell housing what might be the problem?

edit: with the car on seemed even worse than before. Before it'd at least try to get into 1st and grind, and I could get it into reverse even though it was tough to pull it back out. Now it won't even try to get into any gear. Any chance the reverse progress is a sign that it's still a bleeding issue?

[99em1]

bled it again well, decided it's not a hydraulic issue. when I pull the tranny what should I look for? clutch I believe is fine as I didn't notice any slipping.

[jlevie]

Sight unseen, I'd guess on a bad pressure plate or a worn out clutch disc. I.E., time for a new clutch.

[99em1]

Alright this is the one thing i want to know before I go through with the tranny work... is it possible my pedal assembly is messed up? The clutch pedal is slightly twisted from being pushed too hard (which I think is why my slave rod popped out), so could that have altered the position of the clutch pedal assembly? From what I can see, nothing besides the clutch pedal and its abnormally low height is out of place. The cruise control switch bracket is fully up against the clutch pedal with the switch fully depressed.

What controls the height of the cruise control switch bracket?

edit: for pics: with the eccentric bolt off, the clutch pedal rises and looks better. Close to 10 inches away from the firewall. When I put that bolt back on, thats when it looks all weird again.

Also even with the car off, I can't fully engage 1st, and it doesn't feel like it's fully going into 3rd. Seems to go into 2nd though.