The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The clutch in my newly acquired Sprint is quite fierce - it engages in the last 1/4" and then does so with wheel spinning gusto! The PO said that it is a new orange clutch (not sure what is the implication of that). My question is whether the clutch can be adjusted to a more civilised take up?

ham204 wrote:The clutch in my newly acquired Sprint is quite fierce - it engages in the last 1/4" and then does so with wheel spinning gusto! The PO said that it is a new orange clutch (not sure what is the implication of that). My question is whether the clutch can be adjusted to a more civilised take up?

Has the previous owner fitted a racing clutch of some kind?

The clutch hydraulics are difficult to bleed and so sometimes it can be a bit all or nothing. A well bled clutch should operate much more smoothly. Unless someone's fitted a paddle clutch, which would be unlikely, a racing clutch is designed to be more robust rather than especially aggressive. It sounds to me as if the clutch is not progressive enough so you're having to give it more boot, it catches then it's all go!

SprintMWU773V wrote: It sounds to me as if the clutch is not progressive enough so you're having to give it more boot, it catches then it's all go!

Precisely that - not fun while in a traffic queue!

I haven't gone under the car to see exactly where the slave is located, but cannot a setup be made similar to what spitfire owners do - basically to fit a pipe in the bleed valve hole, extend it to a comfortable level (usually somewhere near the bulkhead and then fit the bleed valve there? It is immensely more doable like that,no need to shuffle under the car.

Never thought of doing it that way. I was thinking use a flexible piece then tie it out of the way. It's what we do at work.

I always fill clutch hydraulics from the bottom up. I had to replace the slave on my MGB just last week. I connected the new slave to the pipe but left it hanging down. I pushed the piston as far in as it goes with a push rod and used some insulating tape to hold it there.

Then I put fluid in the Gunsons Ezibleed bottle and connected the tube to the bleed nipple. I took a spare wheel and reduced the pressure in it to 10 psi, plugged the Eezibleed onto the tyre valve and then opened the bleed screw. Watching the master cylinder you can see the fluid slowly rising up from beneath. Once the master is about half full, back underneath and shut off the bleed screw. Undo all the tape and bolt the slave to the engine/gearbox. Clutch works first time because the air has been able to go up, the way it naturally wants to go.

I have used this procedure many times and it has always worked first time. I wish I could claim credit, but I got the idea from another MG owner.

SprintMWU773V wrote:Never thought of doing it that way. I was thinking use a flexible piece then tie it out of the way. It's what we do at work.

I've never seen a flexible pipe used for that purpose. It usually is a steel/copper pipe.

Ta dah!

https://www.bighealey.co.uk/clutch-1/fl ... pe-cclu130

SprintMWU773V wrote:Ta dah!

https://www.bighealey.co.uk/clutch-1/fl ... pe-cclu130

That is a braided pipe which should be ok. A normal pipe would not (my 2c worth) as if it flexes it reduces the pressure being exerted

I have a braided pipe with bleed nipple attached that lives next to the master cylinder

Tony

Braided or not you don't require a huge pressure to bleed the clutch. First time I did it with an easy bleed at not much more than 5psi and that seemed more than enough.

Worth remembering that a lot of manuals also show the bleed nipple below the inlet pipe. I think it makes much more sense to have the bleed nipple to the top so that fluid from the bottom forces the air upwards and out at the highest point.

So finally had the chance to have a look at the slave cylinder. Without the propshaft in place it was quite easy to undo the bleed valve. I can imagine that it would be a different story with the prop in place. I decided to cut a hole in the alloy tunnel and fit a 'Land Rover Transmission Tunnel Grommet' - to give it its full title. Its about 3 inches diameter and should be good to undo the slave cylinder bolts in case of need. I will also do a remote bleed valve - just getting the bits together at the moment.

ham204 wrote:So finally had the chance to have a look at the slave cylinder. Without the propshaft in place it was quite easy to undo the bleed valve. I can imagine that it would be a different story with the prop in place. I decided to cut a hole in the alloy tunnel and fit a 'Land Rover Transmission Tunnel Grommet' - to give it its full title. Its about 3 inches diameter and should be good to undo the slave cylinder bolts in case of need. I will also do a remote bleed valve - just getting the bits together at the moment.

Does it make a difference if the remote bleed valve is higher than the master cylinder as the latter is quite low down?

On a slightly different tangent I have ordered a vacuum bleeder to do some brake work. I'll be interested to see how I get on as actually it could work very well for the clutch hydraulics. You attach it to an air line and another bit to the bleed nipple and then it sucks fresh fluid through. For the Mazda you can't fit the eezebleed to the cap and I can't always rely on the MK1 Wife to assist with some pedal work. I thought for £20 it was worth a shot.

On whether the remote bleed being high is a problem, I would say no. If you're forcing air out of the reservoir whilst using either your foot or an eezebleed then the position of the bleed nipple is the least of your problems.