Hi.
Having bled the clutch as part of a service recently, I thought I'd mention a few strange things in the hope that it might help others.
First, the bleed nipple needs to be unscrewed just over a full turn before any fluid will come out. This is due to it being made of plastic so the thread will not "nip up" like a metal bleed nipple would.
Secondly, the clutch hydraulic circuit takes its fluid from the same reservoir as the brakes. Fair enough, just follow the pipes and you know where to top up.
However, the clutch feed pipes are located half way up the reservoir and towards the rear. This means that if the car is parked with the nose even slightly downhill, the clutch circuit will suck in air even when the fluid reservoir is brimming. Keep it level or at least nose up.
If you do manage to fill your clutch circuit with air and immobilise your car with the nose down, you may be able to get enough pedal by having an assistant keep the reservoir brimming while you slowly pump the pedal.
I learnt this the hard way and wasted a litre of brake fluid in the process. I'd normally avoid Halfords but at 3pm on this particular Sunday, they were a godsend!
Having bled the clutch as part of a service recently, I thought I'd mention a few strange things in the hope that it might help others.
First, the bleed nipple needs to be unscrewed just over a full turn before any fluid will come out. This is due to it being made of plastic so the thread will not "nip up" like a metal bleed nipple would.
Secondly, the clutch hydraulic circuit takes its fluid from the same reservoir as the brakes. Fair enough, just follow the pipes and you know where to top up.
However, the clutch feed pipes are located half way up the reservoir and towards the rear. This means that if the car is parked with the nose even slightly downhill, the clutch circuit will suck in air even when the fluid reservoir is brimming. Keep it level or at least nose up.
If you do manage to fill your clutch circuit with air and immobilise your car with the nose down, you may be able to get enough pedal by having an assistant keep the reservoir brimming while you slowly pump the pedal.
I learnt this the hard way and wasted a litre of brake fluid in the process. I'd normally avoid Halfords but at 3pm on this particular Sunday, they were a godsend!
