Clutch woes...

[Trigger]

I parked the Defender outside last week because i was too lazy too move the wife's car out of the garage where I normally park. In the morning I started it up and when I went to put it in gear I had no clutch. My D90 then started bleeding all over the driveway. I think it was getting back at me for leaving it out in the cold. The fluid was pouring out of the bell housing. I understand this is indicative of a dead slave cylinder.

I ordered and replaced it with a new one tonite. Once things were back in place I went to bleed the lines and fluid again started pouring out of the bell housing. Everytime I put fluid up top it would come out the bottom as soon as I pumped the pedal.

WTF is going on and are things a lot worse than a dead slave cylinder?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Tony

[Berty]

Tony, first of all the new slave cylinder may be faulty, try bleeding it all through again. If it still leaks, suspect a faulty unit.

It's a good idea to replace all the hydraulics in one go. i.e. master cylinder, slave cylinder & flexi hose. If you don't I guarentee, the master will start to leak in a few weeks.

Plus, you are pushing old contaminated fluid from your master to slave cylinder.

try the following for bleeding the system successfully.

Attach a clear pipe to the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder and a glass or jar to catch the fluid.
Fill the reservoir with fluid and open the bleed screw on the slave cylinder, allow the fluid to settle and to travel down the pipework for a few minutes.
Gently press the pedal all the way to the floor and hold it there while your assistant closes the bleed nipple.
Allow the pedal to come back up and check the reservoir topping up as required.
Repeat until no more air can be seen coming through the tube.

Leave the system to settle while you have a beer then repeat a final time to make sure.

You can also use a pressure bleeding system (Eazi Bleed over here) which forces fluid through the system by utilising a container filled with fluid and your spare tyre inflated to about 10/15psi.

good luck.
Brett

[Trigger]

Brett,

Thanks. I'll give it another try tonite. I'll pull it and checkit out to make sure it's not bad. The master cylinder was replaced less than a year ago so I hope it doesn't decide to give up the ghost again.

The weather is beautiful here recently and it's frustrating having the Defender sitting in the garage. :(

Tony

[Trigger]

Ok, I feel like a total idiot now...when putting in the new slave cylinder it really helps to put the push rod on it. What essentially happened was the first time I pushed in the clutch to bleed it it shot out the piston and dustcap, draining the sytem. :uhoh

Now if I could just get it bled completely so it works. I was in too much of a hurry last night because I had a Barenaked Ladies concert to go to. :grin

[tomaco1]

When bleeding the clutch, does the clutch master cylinder cap need to be on or off?

[130Tdi]

When bleeding the clutch, does the clutch master cylinder cap need to be on or off?

doesn't matter except to keep fluid from splashing out

[Trigger]

I leave it off and have a helper top it off as needed while I'm under the truck. Weirdly I haven't had the disappearing fluid happen for 6 months now. I don't understand but i'll take it.

[tomaco1]

Thanks, my clutch is a bit squirrelly, I have to bleed it again.

[JFD]

When working on clutch cylinders, always keep a bottle with clean water close, just in case you need to flush fluid quickly.