I got in the car today, hard to shift the gears with the engine running. I think, ok, I'll take it home and bleed it. I checked the reserve and it was empty, so I figured that there must be a slow leak in the system somewhere that needed replacing.

So I'm bleeding the clutch on my car and regardless of how long I pump the clutch pedal the air just keeps on coming out of the bleeder. I almost ran out of fluid in a 16oz bottle before I gave up. Am I wrong in guessing that my slow leak isn't really so slow or is there another explanation?

 

Check the carpet under the pedals. You will find where your fluid has been leaking.
Means the seal on the shaft is worn and needs a rebuild. May be bad enough that is is adding air to the system while pumping as well.

-billy

 

Go to black dragon automotive and buy a whole new clutch hydraulic assembly. Master, slave, and flexible line for about 70 to 80 bucks. Thats what i did when mine bit the dust.

 

Just went outside to check the carpet, slave, master, etc... I wasn't able to find the spot where fluid had been leaking. As far as I know, there isn't any missing fluid. the bottle I was using for the bleed kept getting more fluid from the bleeder. There were just bubbles in the fluid that came out regardless of what I did.

The crazy thing, the car has been off for about 1 hour, just for the sake of making sure all other things were equal I started the engine up and the clutch felt firm. Before it had been sinking to the floor before I could feel any contact like it. Also all gears could be shifted into with the engine running. In other words, it felt like I would have expected had the bleed been successful, but it didn't feel like that until 90 minutes after I bled it. Does that make any sense in terms of what may be causing the problem? I'm thinking air may have slowly circulated up the line into the master cylinder and thus exited the part of the hydraulic circuit where the air would otherwise have been compressed.

 

Maybe it just ran low until it sucked air and now you are fine ? Just keep an eye out for a few days. If you are missing fluid and you do not see wet spots in the engine compartment then you will find it in the floor board.

-billy

 

Were you using a vacuum bleeder, or the two-man method?

I've noticed before that vacuum bleeding can sometimes suck air in from around the bleed screw threads, making it look like you're still getting tiny bubbles; I usually put a little grease around the base of the screw to make a seal.

 

Using the two-man method solo. I was pumping with my arm kinda wrapped the door and leaning out to the hood to keep an eye on things. It's possible that the air was in fact getting sucked in from the bleeder. I know that I had cycled all the old fluid out by the time I was done, so there really should haven't been as much air as I was seeing unless there was a huge leak.

 

Are you closing the bleeder when you let the pedal up? you should pump the clutch a couple times, hold it to the floor, then loosen the bleeder. Once the fluid stops flowing, close the bleeder and then let the pedal up. If you let the pedal up with the bleeder open it will suck in air.

 

I've found that the clutch doesn't bleed like the brakes do. Pumping never seemed to work for me. I push and hold the pedal, crack the the bleeder, close it, release the pedal. Continue this until the pedal is firm.