Clutch Hydraulic Troubles

["Graham Davis" <grahamldavis@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dean Cains in Florida wrote:

Usually I just let the slave hang under the car and gravity bleed the
system for a few minutes, before mounting it in the bellhousing; a method
that has always worked for me.  This time, I let a pint of fluid bleed
out,
and got an almost continuous stream of bubbles, large and small.  I tried
a
pressure bleed, too, with the same result.  There was so much air, that
it
must have been coming in as fast as it was going out.  Here's a weird
artifact I noticed.  When I release the air bleeding pressure from the MC
reservoir, several large bubbles come out of the two holes in the MC body
that the fluid drains into from the reservoir.  It will happen virtually
every time.  I even tried just using my mouth to put a little pressure in
the reservoir, and every time, I get those same bubbles up through the
fluid in the reservoir.  The pushrod side of the MC doesn't seem to be
leaking any fluid, either.

It may also be worth mentioning that both parts appear to be what's been
called "OEM-quality" by some vendors.  The slave came from IAP, and the
MC
from Linea Rossa.  The last time I bought these parts for my other
Spider,
it was a few years ago, and the parts came in Ate or Benditalia boxes, so
there was never any question about their quality and origin.  This time
the
slave was generic, without part numbers or even new circlips, and it was
delivered in an unmarked plastic bag.  Same for the MC, except it looks
to
be poorly-made (maybe from Eastern Europe?), with a smallish rectangular
reservoir that has to be pulled to access the top mounting nut, and both
the reservoir and its cap are made of very thin plastic.  Not exactly
what
I was hoping for.

I believe that while your parts are non-branded, they are equally well
made.  The spider shares it's clutch MC with the Gtv-6 and you have the
earlier pattern.  This last weekend I installed one from Bruce's Parts
Bin on my bride's spider but I bench-bled all the air out prior to
installation.  MC works just fine.  If you own a repair manual, you know
to preset the piston shaft link - machined end of cylinder to back end of
clevis eye @ 13.5mm.  Other inst. tips are: first, fit the piston through
the mounting bracket hole then screw in the hydraulic line 12mm nut
finger tight.  Next couple the piston to the actuator lever.  I prefer to
use a hitch pin instead of a cotter; makes life easier.  Put star washers
under the 8mm bolt heads and anti-sieze on the threads.  The lockwashers
and nuts will spin on with your fingers.  The box end of a good
(Craftsman, etc.) 13mm stubby wrench will fit on the top nut underneath
the reservoir and swing clear of the brake reservoir. 

Graham L. Davis'91 164 L'89 Milano Verde'89 Spider Grad

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