Technical Bleeding 1.2 clutch

[Ralf S.]

A couple of clutch hydraulic questions concerning the Younger Mrs S's 500, "Rasputin" that I thought of while I was poking about under the bonnet over the weekend.

The hydraulic fluid is dark yellow so it probably needs a bleed but;

a) What's the official best way to fill the reservoir? On the lid it says "Fill to (I presume the MAX) Line".

When I removed the lid and the rubber diaphragm thing, the level was above the line so I removed a little bit, pending a change... but once the fluid was on the line, I replaced the rubber diaphragm but it raised the level to above the line again (albeit not as much as previously).

Is the fluid level literally filled to the MAX line, so the level rises above it when the diaphragm is fitted, or do we ought to underfill it, so that the diaphragm lifts it to the MAX mark. Having the level above "MAX" seems wrong to me... but if you fill it to MAX and then put the diaphragm in there, it must rise.

b) How do you bleed the slave? I felt under the battery tray and I found the slave. It seems like a flat diamond shaped dibber-dobber. I also felt up the nipple. But is the nipple a conventional bleeder (like a brake caliper nipple) or one of those fangled ones that are kept "shut" by a gate that lifts up?

It would probably be easier to see/do if I remove the battery tray or peer in at it from under the car... but I'm curious for now. It won't be long before I'll repace all the fluid.



Ralf S.

 

[John202020]

Remove the battery and tray.
There's a bleed screw separate to the nipple with a Allen key hole on the top.
Remove the black rubber bung in filler, unbolt and tip out contents 're fix and fill to top, bleed until clean coming through topping up as required allowing the level to drop just near completion replace bung.
Note the bleed screw leaks all over the place when bleeding.

 

[jrkitching]

Remove the battery and tray.

You can, but you don't have to if you are comfortable working by feel rather than by sight.

On some variants, there's quite a bit of other gubbins (including the main ECU multipin connectors) you need to remove to get the battery tray out, so perhaps best left undisturbed if you can manage without.

See this post.

There's very little spare fluid in the master cylionder; perhaps 40ml or so. As long as it doesn't overflow when you replace the black plastic thingy, you'll be fine.

Note the bleed screw leaks all over the place when bleeding.

:yeahthat:

It will do this whether you remove the battery tray or not, so put something under the car to catch any drips (a builders bund tray would be ideal), and wash the area down with soapy water afterwards.

You can minimise spillage by vacuum bleeding; this works well and I'd recommend it.

 

[Ralf S.]

Cool. The photo in the link is just how I imagined after the previous posts but it's good to see it in real life.

It's similar to my Stilo JTD clutch (other than the Stilo has a metal "guillotine" affair to stop the fluid coming out of the rigid nipple), rather than a screw. The screw looks far more sensible though..

I'll give it a go without removing the battery tray. since; a) I'm lazy, and b) the scope to upset some wiring or sensor must be greater with the battery being disturbed. If I have to shift it/a bit I can do that afterwards.

The beast has a slightly wonky bumper/headlight anyway (amateurly repaired by a previous owner rather than a bodyshop, for certain) so I'll have to remove the wheel arch liners/bumper anyhow so that I can have a look and refit everything so it lines up properly). While all the front end is in pieces, I might get a great view/access to the bleed nipple anyway.


Ralf S.