Am I bleeding the Clutch slave cylinder correctly?

[jhv48]

Pman, if your bleeder valve is on the top of the slave cylinder, like most SPF slaves are, the gravity method works fine. I Do it on mine twice a year and it has been recommended in other threads on this forum. However, if you want to make the job more costly and complicated, then by all means buy the equipment and do reverse bleeding. They all accomplish the same thing.

[Jeff Frigo]

Originally Posted by jhv48

Pman, if your bleeder valve is on the top of the slave cylinder, like most SPF slaves are, the gravity method works fine. I Do it on mine twice a year and it has been recommended in other threads on this forum. However, if you want to make the job more costly and complicated, then by all means buy the equipment and do reverse bleeding. They all accomplish the same thing.

It does NOT work if you have air in the master cylinder, period. Tried it many times, I wish it was that simple.

[jhv48]

Piman, what makes you think there is air in your master cylinder? It appears that you disconnected the slave from the trans and let it hang by the hydraulic line while doing some engine work. If you didn't open the bleeder or remove the master cylinder, there shouldn't be air anywhere in the system, as it is a closed system. I did the same thing when I pulled my trans and just reattached the slave without bleeding the system. Everything worked fine, just as it did before I unbolted the slave from the transmission.

Was your pedal spongy? Was the clutch failing to completely disengage? What symptoms were showing thated you to believe that you needed to bleed your clutch hydraulics?

[Jeff Frigo]

Originally Posted by jhv48

If you didn't open the bleeder or remove the master cylinder, there shouldn't be air anywhere in the system, as it is a closed system.

I Do it on mine twice a year.

Why, it is a closed system?

[blykins]

Just found this thread....

JHV is right, every Mustang from the mid 80's on up through 2003-2004 used a bearing that rides the pressure plate.

However, I've had a couple of McLeod bearings fail that way. When I called McLeod about it, they said that the bearings were not meant to be in continuous use. So, I always recommend that if it's possible to set the clutch up with a little clearance between the bearing and the pressure plate, the same as you would for an older style Ford clutch actuation system.

Keep in mind that when pressure plates wear, the fingers will rise. Without an automatic adjuster that's present in the Mustangs, you really have to watch about the bearing keeping constant pressure on the plate as it will put more preload on the pressure plate than what's necessary (or good).

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by Jeff Frigo

Why, it is a closed system?

Because unless you let the master cylinder suck some air by letting the reservoir go empty. Or you held the slave above the master cylinder and opened the bleeder valve. Or you have a leak in the system. There is no way air entered the master cylinder just by unbolting the slave from the transmission. Air has to be introduced somehow. Just unbolting a slave cylinder from its mounting bracket won't do it.

I've been where you are right now. Tried to bleed the slave the first time using a friend to step on the clutch pedal and then opened and closed the bleeder valve, Didn't work for me at all. Pedal went dead, and only a little bit of fluid came out. After trying three or four different times, I read on this forum about the gravity method. Opened the reservoir, put a pan underneath the slave, opened the bleeder valve and watched the old, dirty fluid drip into the pan. Refilled the reservoir three times till the fluid coming out was clear, closed the bleeder valve and everything worked perfectly!

Don't know why it worked, but it did and has for the past three years!