Help!! Flushed & Bled Brakes, Now Clutch Does Nothing!!!

[Jamz72]

Hi guys, seriously stressing here.

Flushed and bled all my brakes and clutch today with new fluid. I used the visibleed one man kit. Clutch fluid seemed dodgy to begin with - kept coming out with lots of air bubbles and some pumps of the clutch didn't seem to push any fluid out at all. I tried to make sure the reservoir always had fluid in but it may have got too low at some point, not sure. Now I've put everything back together and the clutch pedal goes straight to the floor

What can I do?!

James

 

[Kazumz]

Hi guys, seriously stressing here.

Flushed and bled all my brakes and clutch today with new fluid. I used the eazybleed one man kit. Clutch fluid seemed dodgy to begin with - kept coming out with lots of air bubbles and some pumps of the clutch didn't seem to push any fluid out at all. I tried to make sure the reservoir always had fluid in but it may have got too low at some point, not sure. Now I've put everything back together and the clutch pedal goes straight to the floor

What can I do?!

James

Got enough fluid in there?

Losing any fluid at the moment?

Hoses all OK?

 

[Mattb_197]

Have you had a read of this sort of guide here...

http://www.clio197.net/forum/showthread.php?46023-Brake-amp-Clutch-Bleeding-Questions

 

[krash67]

you need to pre-fill the clutch pipe & filter, don't use the quick bleed. also did you bleed by disconnecting the pipe snap connector at the slave cylinder? you also could have a contaminated filter on the clutch pipework.
Also this snap connector you really need to push it in, or else when you press the clutch pedal it will go to the floor and push fluid all out in the engine bay via the bleed point at the connector (this shuts off when the connection is made with the slave cylinder pipe).

Apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs

 

[Jamz72]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah I have enough fluid in the resevoir, not losing any fluid by the looks of it and hoses all seem fine.

That thread was me asking how to flush the system! Only just got round to doing it now like a year later haha. wish I'd never bothered now though

@krash67 Your post sounds very useful but I'm not quite sure what you mean. What and how do you pre fill the clutch pipe and filter? I used the bleed point just underneath the battery. I popped my bleed kit onto the bleed nipple and pulled the pipe out one click by pressing for down the clip. Did I do it wrong then? Can you please explain what I should be doing and where I find the bits (clutch filter etc)?

Cheers,
James

 

[krash67]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah I have enough fluid in the resevoir, not losing any fluid by the looks of it and hoses all seem fine.

That thread was me asking how to flush the system! Only just got round to doing it now like a year later haha. wish I'd never bothered now though

@krash67 Your post sounds very useful but I'm not quite sure what you mean. What and how do you pre fill the clutch pipe and filter? I used the bleed point just underneath the battery. I popped my bleed kit onto the bleed nipple and pulled the pipe out one click by pressing for down the clip. Did I do it wrong then? Can you please explain what I should be doing and where I find the bits (clutch filter etc)?

Cheers,
James

Filter, if you trace the pipe back from the bleed/ connector at the slave cylinder, it will go under the air box ( part of it is a hose). At a point next to the chassis leg you will see a round pot in the pipe work ( I think from memory is about 30mm in diameter). This is the filter. You can't do anything with it.
I had similar issues in changing the fluid/flushing this system out using a bleeding system/pump. The thing is with these is that they draw air into the system, on bad joints between the master cylinder and the brake reservoir. I would open up the bleed, install a pipe to a 4 pint plastic milk bottle and with a friend standing by on the reservior to keep it topped up....start pumping the clutch pedal.

 

[Jamz72]

Thanks for the reply. Your suggestion about pumping the clutch pedal with a pipe into a milk bottle is pretty much exactly what I've been doing but with my visibleed kit which has a one way valve. What with air getting into the system on bad joints.. this could very well be the case but I don't understand how I could have been driving normally with these bad joints and they only raise their heads now :001_unsure:

When you said pre-fill the clutch pipe & filter, do you mean fill up the reservoir?

I've bled the clutch for a while via the bleed point and it's fresh fluid coming out now with minimal bubbles so I'm not sure what more I can do? I have no idea what the issue is

James

 

[Jamz72]

Fixed it!!!!! Not sure why or how but air must have got trapped somewhere that pumping the pedal couldn't move. I hooked up the pressure bleed kit and it started pushing out lots of air bubbles that I hadn't been able to get out before. That was it! Now it works

For anyone else considering doing this - for the £20 the Gunson pressure bleed kit costs and the ease compared to a conventional method or even one way valve method, I would definitely recommend it.