Technical clutch bleeding

Currently reading:
Technical clutch bleeding

gordongilchrist

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Messages
7
Points
1
Hi I was hoping someone could give me some advice.

Ive got a 2005 multipla JTD. The biting point for my clutch is almost at the floor. It looks like the clutch control arm only moves about 10 degrees which dosent seem to me to be enought? so i thought there must be air in the hydraulics. I blead the slave cylinder but didnt look like much if any air came out. this improved the biting point a little.

However I noticed that when i closed the bleeding point and the clutch pedel was released it didn't spring back up by its self as i expected. I had to lift the pedel up by hand before i could commence pump up the hydraulics again. Does this seem normal or does it point to a fault somewhere such as a broken return spring in the master cylinder?????

Any advise would be appreciated as the next step is probably what I dread to do is replacing the clutch.

Many thanks:eek:
 
It's probably the return spring that's broken in the clutch master cylinder. This is a common fault. Have a read of this:

https://www.fiatforum.com/multipla/106859-how-do-you-remove-clutch-master-cylinder-multipla.html

If you haven't got a clamp (mentioned in the second post of that thread) you can stretch a piece of cling film over the neck of the hydraulic fluid reservoir. Screw the Reservoir cap on over the top of it to hold it in place. This will temporarily block off the breather hole. Don't forget to remove it afterwards though!
 
The pedal non-return is actually normal believe it or not! I put a new clutch master cylinder spring in when doing the clutch and when I tried the old fashion 'pump the pedal' approach I had the same.

I reccomend you get yourself an 'Eazibleed' and a 'One man bleed kit'. This will make the job much easier.

Incidently, after a brand new clutch my biting point is still very low. So I wouldn't worry too much if the action is good and there are no other problems.
 
It's on the bulkhead and nigh impossible to get to. Don't bother with it!
 
Thanks for the advice.

Do you no of any test/procedure that could be done to confirm my suspicion that the master cylinder return spring is broken or do you just have to disassemble it inside the car to visually inspect it?
 
I couldn't find the other bleed point either. It was hard enough even to find the slave cylinder let alone the attached bleed point on it, what with all the cables, pipes battery and air box in the way. My lower arms and hand are scraped to high heaven. lol. You can hardley even see the clutch control arm. I don,t think Fiat designers left much room in the engine bay with servicing in mind.
 
Was just thinking as I attempted to blead air from the clutch hydraulics at the slave cylinder, the blead point is very close to the hydraulic pipe connection to the slave, therefore there may still be air in the slave cylinder its self? I'll try pushing the piston back into the slave unit with the blead nipple open. Might help
 
All definitely worth a try,but.....and I hope iam wrong,it sounds like new clutch to me, these clutches seem to start failing from 60000 miles, on my 2002 115 jtd the clutch wasn't slipping, it just had a low pedal and.wouldn't disengage properly. It turned out that the thrust bearing had worn through the clutch cover plate spring fingers. A new clutch sorted it and pedal height is normal.I didn't fit a new dmf and its been fine,but next time.New clutch was fitted at 77000miles, now on 98000,
 
Thanks for letting me know your experiences. Hoping it'd not clutch but its defiantly possibility. I'll try that last though and try easier fixes first

All definitely worth a try,but.....and I hope iam wrong,it sounds like new clutch to me, these clutches seem to start failing from 60000 miles, on my 2002 115 jtd the clutch wasn't slipping, it just had a low pedal and.wouldn't disengage properly. It turned out that the thrust bearing had worn through the clutch cover plate spring fingers. A new clutch sorted it and pedal height is normal.I didn't fit a new dmf and its been fine,but next time.New clutch was fitted at 77000miles, now on 98000,
 
Thanks for letting me know your experiences. Hoping it'd not clutch but its defiantly possibility. I'll try that last though and try easier fixes first
Yup new clutch needed as you perdicted. thrust bearing had worn through the clutch spring fingers. Ajso duel mass fly wheel was shot. @ 46,000. Ah well all working great now.
 
I replaced my clutch last year due to thrust bearing failure. I drove it around for a week. There was an oil leak from behind the DMF so we had to pull it off again. There were already witness marks on the clutch fingers from the thrust bearing. I'm convinced that the Multipla clutch problems are down to a design fault causing the thrust bearing failing by contact with the clutch fingers. From the reading I did on this forum and other places, it's nearly always the thrust bearing failing and not the clutch plates.
Here are 2 pictures I took. You can see the wear on the fingers in the centre of the old clutch in one photo.
The 2nd shows my new clutch after approx 150 miles.

My friend who helped Me changes clutches on trucks. In his words "That ain't good"!
 

Attachments

  • IMAG0144.jpg
    IMAG0144.jpg
    916.9 KB · Views: 122
  • Clutch2.jpg
    Clutch2.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 114
Last edited:
That second picture is a bit scary for only 150 miles. Which bit of the thrust bearing do you think is/was touching the fingers?

The clutch I just had replaced had only done about 25-30k miles and the fingers are quite worn on that as well. The friction plate etc were all still ok. I'll have a look at it and the release bearing as I've still got it in the box for the new one.
 
Which bit of the thrust bearing do you think is/was touching the fingers?.
Not sure. Should have investigated further but just needed to get the thing back together...

Shame, because I reckon if we could figure a fix, we'd get a longer life on the 2nd clutch. Anybody have access to a fiche of the assembly?
 
Yup new clutch needed as you perdicted. thrust bearing had worn through the clutch spring fingers. Ajso duel mass fly wheel was shot. @ 46,000. Ah well all working great now.

What sort of price did this set you back?Got mine in the garage tomorrow.Broke down a few days ago while we were towing the caravan and had to get recovered home.Changed the slave cylinder yesterday because the push rod had snapped,bled it and still no difference.Garage seemed to think it needed a new clutch.
 
Back
Top