After the whole debacle of getting this clutch sorted, I have compiled a few records of our time together! Even though it should have been a simple cylinder and fluid bleed, it turned out to cost £274 of tools and Dot 4 juice, and a few weeks of cursing and crying at my beloved van. So, what is the story.
Day One: The Master-Cylinder Gets Changed
This was it, it was time to change Vyv’s clutch master cylinder. A simple effort, pinch the left tube to hold the fluid in, pull the pin out on the bottom, then tug the lower pipe out of the hole. Then twist the cylinder to the left. Pop the top clip off the pedal and slide it out. It was okay, except for the fact that I tried to twist it to the right and also has to snip off the cable-ties to free the clip!
Day Two: The First Bleed Commences
The nightmare began, right here! the bleeding nipple was awful to get loose. It took a second day, and an extra pair of hands to break its seal. Once this was done, I attached the pipe and we began to pump the pedal. This is in no way a time-efficient way to achieve it! This day ended on a downer, Vyvyan still having no usable clutch!
Right, let’s try the bleeding…what a bleeding palaver!
Going in, again, we tried to pump the pedal, once more. Deciding to do the locking off, then waiting for bubbles to float by. This felt like a loop of despair, so another couple of hours was wasted.
Day Five: Let Plan Two Begin
So, as that failed, I wanted to try a syringe! After a wide trip to the a farm supplies shop, it ended up too small. I then noticed that the air bleeder that I had originally bought was useless without an attached compressor. So…one was ordered!
Day Nine: Yet Another Tool!
A bigger syringe, that’ll do it! No it won’t, it’s now too big! On with the new compressor. Once that was all connected, we watched it for two hours, to no avail! It was then we learned that the pedal needed to be left up! Cue sigh! It might be a good time to mention another pump I bought after this, one that was for moving oil. This failed, too! I will not give up!
Day Fifteen: Syringe No.3
Yay, I found a syringe that worked! Kept drawing from the system, but it felt like I was going around in circles…again!!! I then tried to back-bleed it. This is where you push the fluid through the nipple, not pull it out. This did not work, either!
Day Seventeen: Power Bleeding Wins!
It was time for a power bleeder! £20 later, a few days passed by, I attached it to the fluid reservoir, added the bottle to the nipple, then pumped the bleeder up to 30psi. Here we go…I released the nipple…then it pushed it out, replaced the fluid for new, and the clutch worked!
Conclusion:
What a job this was, I won’t pretend that I am entirely knowledgable about this, but I think the notes express it, already. I have never bled a clutch, so this was an invaluable lesson. Steph helped me pump the pedal and watch the piping, so it became a ‘team-teach’ time, for us both! It cost a lot, but now I have done it, I know what works. I also now have a sweet Einhell Compressor in my tool arsenal. I will review this in the coming weeks. for now, be aware that this has been a nightmare, but like all bad dreams, you will eventually wake-up!
Extra Note: I have decided that after the writing of this post, I will be bleeding it a little further. Vyvyan is driving well, but the pedal isn’t quite high enough, nor right. So back into the engine bay we go!
