Simple question, how to bleed the Sprint clutch?

[saitrix]

Hi,

Right now I have a very low bite point, so low I cannot have my carpet in. So I want to make sure I am doing it all correct.

I have a gunson eezibleed system that uses the tyre pressure to push the fluid through.

Now does the piston have to be held in place, with a g clamp done gently for example?

Now I connect it all up, and just turn the bleed nipple and wait for it to flow through, is this the correct way to do it?

Oh here is a little vid of the movement I'm getting right now.

http://saitrix.rchomepage.com/clutch.3gp

[SprintMWU773V]

I tried using an eezebleed but found that being such a small hydraulic system the pressure was a bit too high for my liking and just ate fluid so having cut a hole in the gearbox tunnel I did it manually.

If you do decide to use the eezebleed then bleed it with the clutch depressed as they are notoirious fo holding air in the system. It's probably one of the worst jobs on a Sprint to do so make sure you don't have any leaks before you go to the effort or else you'll have to do it twice.

[dailysprinter]

I have never used an easy bleed system, I use my finger, yes only my finger.
If you have a helper to push the clutch pedal down, open the bleed nipple with your finger on the end and wait for the bubbles to stop coming out, you can feel them force past.

The trick is to open the bleed nipple on the downstroke and close it on the upstoke.

[David6214]

surely you get covered in clutch fluid? or your garage floor does??

[saitrix]

I tried using an eezebleed but found that being such a small hydraulic system the pressure was a bit too high for my liking and just ate fluid so having cut a hole in the gearbox tunnel I did it manually.

If you do decide to use the eezebleed then bleed it with the clutch depressed as they are notoirious fo holding air in the system. It's probably one of the worst jobs on a Sprint to do so make sure you don't have any leaks before you go to the effort or else you'll have to do it twice.

Lol this will be my forth time doing it in less than a month.

Yeah the pressure is a bit high, I was going to let the pressure of my tyre right down to 10psi so it is only a more gentle pressure. Or shall I do it the manual way?

I am a bit confused in the Haynes it says to have the slave cylinder with the bleed nipple at the bottom, but I have seen it said on these forums to have it on the top. So which do I do?

Well at uni I can get hold of 3 nice helpers so can have everyone only doing 1 job.

[MalcGE]

I'd opt for a manula bleed. Open bleed nipple and push operating rod and piston fully into slave. Down stroke on pedal with nipple open, like chaps say, close on upstroke and make sure whoever is on the pedal follws you every instruction, especially if you are holding pushrod and piston in by hand.

I always run some pipe through a box spanner and use a normal spanner on the end of the box spanner but only cos I dislike brake fluid and the though of it running down my arm don't exactly appeal

[DavePoth]

I'd opt for a manula bleed. Open bleed nipple and push operating rod and piston fully into slave. Down stroke on pedal with nipple open, like chaps say, close on upstroke and make sure whoever is on the pedal follws you every instruction, especially if you are holding pushrod and piston in by hand.

I always run some pipe through a box spanner and use a normal spanner on the end of the box spanner but only cos I dislike brake fluid and the though of it running down my arm don't exactly appeal

Much simpler way of avoiding that Malc, just get the other person to work the bleed nipple. I've done it loads of times and have yet to get messy.

[2F45T4U]

I tend to pump the pedal up a few times and hold it down when the nipple gets opended, then take your foot off the pedal once the nipple is closed.

[Jon Tilson]

is right on the money here....A bit of prior pressure helps force the air out.

Best way is to let the piston go to the end against a clamp of some sort and then bleed it til the peddle goes solid. Then you know you have no air.
Some slaves have a circlip to hold the piston and rod in. In that case dont push to much when it goes hard...or it will pop out...

Jonners

[Sprint36]

I have a much cleaner method which I have now used loads of time with success. Nobody on here seems to believe that it works, but it does.

Simply connect up the whole system and fill the reservoir 3/4 full. Now get under the car and slowly push the pushrod into the slave. You should hear bubbles as the air is pushed up through the system into the reservoir. Now let the spring in the slave push the piston back out, sucking fluid into the system. Repeat until you no longer hear any air moving, topping up the reservoir as necessary. Don't fill the reservoir to the top or it will just overflow. Make sure to push the pushrod right into the slave each time.

As long as the little spring at the end of the master cylinder is intact so that the seal is held off the reservoir feed hole when the pedal is not depressed, this always works. The reason it works is the big bore of the clutch pipe, which allows air and fluid to pass each other. The smaller bore of brake pipes means this will not work for the brake system.

So there you are, no mess, no waste. Simply pump the slave piston in and out. Still sceptical? Go on try it what have you got to lose?

David

[Betty Swallocks]

You could try this if you wish - worked on my car but I was very doubtful that it would though.

Fill the system and gently dab the clutch pedal repeatedly (just enough to take up the slack in the mechanism), watch the master cylinder reservoir and watch the little bubbles come back up into it. Just dabbing the pedal agitates the fluid and worked really well to my amazement and I now have a pedal with about 2cm travel before the clutch actuates. My son showed me this and I thought I would humour him by letting him do it - took some time but he did it on his own and amazed me just how well it works now. I had tried manually bleeding the thing and using an easi-bleed kit but neither gave these results. He's such a smart arse and hasn't let me forget it since!

[Sprint36]

That also works for the same reason - pipe diameter is big enough to allow bubbles to rise. Again, it won't work with the brakes! Both techniques involve no mess.

David

[saitrix]

Wow wish I saw that earlier! Well I redid the clutch putting the nipple on the top and bleeded it. Now it is all fine, even with carpet all in. I'm all happy.

[misterchew]

I have a much cleaner method which I have now used loads of time with success. Nobody on here seems to believe that it works, but it does.

Simply connect up the whole system and fill the reservoir 3/4 full. Now get under the car and slowly push the pushrod into the slave. You should hear bubbles as the air is pushed up through the system into the reservoir. Now let the spring in the slave push the piston back out, sucking fluid into the system. Repeat until you no longer hear any air moving, topping up the reservoir as necessary. Don't fill the reservoir to the top or it will just overflow. Make sure to push the pushrod right into the slave each time.

As long as the little spring at the end of the master cylinder is intact so that the seal is held off the reservoir feed hole when the pedal is not depressed, this always works. The reason it works is the big bore of the clutch pipe, which allows air and fluid to pass each other. The smaller bore of brake pipes means this will not work for the brake system.

So there you are, no mess, no waste. Simply pump the slave piston in and out. Still sceptical? Go on try it what have you got to lose?

David

I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to say a big thank you to David. After rebuilding my master cylinder and changing the slave I have struggled to bleed the clutch at all. I tried manually, moving the bleed screw to the upper position and also using a vacuum bleed system with no success. This method (after quite a lot of pumping the slave pushrod it worked! I would never have believed it, but it now works perfectly.