Clutch bleeding question

[jon]

Whilst immersed in replacing the battery I noticed a pool of liquid on top of the clutch housing -clutch slave cylinder gaiter torn. I went through the rigmarole of refilling and bleeding the system, hence my question.

When bleeding the system must the fluid level in the reservoir be maintained above that of the clutch feeder pipe in order for no air to enter the system or is there some non retrun valve further down the system?

My query is raised because if you top the reservoir up, have a bleed kit attached to the slave cylinder, depress the clutch pedal it virtually empties the reservoir to a level below the feeder pipe. So you are always opening the system up to the ingestion of air. (unless you have a constant supply of fluid feeding the reservoir)

I was surprised to find nothing regarding the matter on this site however there are loads of references to failed clutch slave cylinders on other Alfa and Fiat forums. Am I the only bravo owner to experience this?

 

[Tom]

ITs one of the few true common failures. Get a new slave cyl, they are about £25.

And yes, you do need to keep the level higher than the pipe.