Clutch Bleeding Progress

[Scott Swanberg <sswan60@xxxxxxx>]

Well I made some progress at bleeding my clutch.  First of all let me
say that I was aware of rotating the slave so as to position the bleed
nipple on the top.  I've read that many times on the digest and for
once, something stuck.

What I ended up doing was to take the cap off the reservoir and pop off
the inside portion of the breather.  I then enlarged the breather hole
on the top of the cap with a drill so that the needle from a
football/basketball pump would fit tightly in it.  I then screwed the
cap back on and pressurized the reservoir with the pump.  Once
pressurized I got under the car and loosened the bleed nipple and the
air/fluid shot out into my bleed hose.  While doing this I would
occasionally shut the nipple, top up the reservoir and repressurize it.
I did this until I got a clear stream.  I then got a helper and we did
the traditional pumping the pedal, closing the nipple on the return
stroke.  This forced out some more air.  I went back and forth between
the two systems and ended up getting resistance in the pedal to the
point where the clutch does operate but is still soft.

That's were I'm at right now, an operational but soft clutch.  I took it
for a short test drive and it seemed to shift OK but the pedal still
felt soft and did not always return to it's full upright position.
There must be some more air in the system so I guess I'll have to do
some more bleeding.  I'm planning on doing the traditional bleeding to
hopefully get a firm pedal.  One thing different I was told to try was
to jack up the rear higher than the front.  I went ahead and ordered one
of those speed bleeder nipples but that will take a few days to get
here.

I can't believe what a pain this has been.  I've gone through over 72
oz. of fluid.  My old Triumph bleeds much easier then this car.

Any other ideas on effective bleeding to get a firm clutch with the
proper return would be appreciated.
Thanks
Scott Swanberg

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