Clutch slave cylinder replacement

[collins_dan]

I use the same tool as Nick and a speedbleeder (www.speedbleeder.com) and its not a problem and is a single person job. Dan

[The Veg]

I've used Speedbleeders on my motorbikes, they are a good product- although my dad taught me a trick that does the same thing. Just put a good, tight fitting bit of tubing onto the nipple and submerge the other end of the tubing in fluid in a bottle. Once the air in the tubing is expelled, no air can be sucked back in. Dad did one-man bleeds for decades with this method.

(Edited for typos)

[prezoom]

I have Speedbleeders on every vehicle I own. I also have another solution to bleeding the clutch slave cylinder. As a disclaimer, the car is LHD, and has a flexible AN-4 line from the hard line to the cylinder.

I bleed my slave dismounted from the bell housing. I made a tool to do this. The tool is a round piece of metal that inserts into the open end of the cylinder. On the end of this round piece, I welded a steel plate that extends outward with a 1/4 inch hole drilled in it that will align with the spring retaining hole on the cylinder. I use a long 1/4 inch bolt to connect, through these two holes, to hold the tool in the cylinder. It does not take purple neck torque to bleed this cylinder. There is no return spring or clutch diaphragm spring to depress, when applying pressure to the clutch pedal. Light pressure will move fluid through the system. With the cylinder removed from the clutch housing, I can rotate the cylinder to a position that puts the bleed port to the highest point. Then, with the Speedbleeder, I can easily push fluid through the system and expel any trapped air, as the slave cylinder piston is trapped, and does not need to move during the bleeding process.

When I have finished the bleeding routine, I remove the bolt and tool, insert the cylinder in the loop with the operating rod, install the circlip, make the needed adjustment and install the return spring. No ranting and raving, no cursing the designers of the system, I am happier, my wife is happier, and all is well on the home front.

[alan.barker]

hi Rob,
i think a photo of your tool will
Alan

[prezoom]

For some reason I cannot get my camera or phone to up load to my computer. If you have an email address, (PM me) I'll shoot it with my phone and send it to you that way.

[alan.barker]

hi Rob,
here's your photos of tool

[john.p.clegg]

Alan

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

hope it's not patented..

John

[alan.barker]

every photo tells a story, thanks Rob the inventer

[prezoom]

If anyone wants to know what the shiny bit is at the open end of the slave cylinder is, this is a cylinder that I sleeved with some 303 stainless. It was a leaker, is now fixed and is waiting in reserve, for when the cylinder on the S2 takes a dump. Which should not happen in my life time, as it is also sleeved with the same material.

[The Veg]

Thought you guys would like to know how it went. I got the car onto the lift, and with a bit of wrestling got the exhaust removed. The slave cylinder itself was a piece of the proverbial cake. With a rubber mallet and a screwdriver acting as a drift, I was able to get the gap on the (probably original) lockring around to an accessible point and it came off easily. I did run into one odd thing mounting the new cylinder though: the thing seemed to be a couple of millimetres too long, meaning that once the new circlip was on it I could slide the cylinder back and forth in its mount just a little. The solution was to remove it and put the old lockring around it, all the way down where it can act as a spacer between the cylinder and the mount. Circlip back on, and everything is where it should be.

But you win some, you lose some. I still wasn't able to drive the car home, because I saw that the original red plastic clutch-hose was still in place and it looked like the exhaust heat had made the metal end on the hose heat up enough to melt the plastic a little, and it leaked quite a bit at the point where the metal end joined to the plastic. Towed the car home, and Monday I'll order a nice new upgraded hose, and I'll also look into some heat-shielding measures. The friend whose lift I was using showed me the engine on his late-model Corvette, in which he has installed some sort of woven titanium sleeves on the headers and he said that they were very effective. That's one possibility among many. I also suspect that the battery is beyond hope, but I'll poke around with it a little before I buy another one.

Took a few pictures while I was underneath; might post them later.

[gjz30075]

Ben, the car looks good! Anxious to see it at C&O. Here's a mod I did to make clutch bleeding in situ a
bit easier
lotus-elan-f19/what-does-your-elan-plus2-look-like-today-t23626-375.html

[7skypilot]

Like Greg I made up a remote bleed that I've tucked away, out of sight, in the engine bay. Bleeding really is simple and well worth the minor effort of sourcing the braided hose and fittings. If you're in the UK, Think Automotive is an outstanding resource for all plumbing needs. They made up the remote bleed for me using HETBB1-3 (the bleed fitting) and some PVC coated ss braided hose to the length I required.

It's also worth, as you've discovered, using the correct snap ring which is a little thicker than the readily available circlips and will prevent any fore/aft slave cylinder movement. Snap ring pliers and eye protection are essential as that pesky ring can really fly! Making a simple heat shield to protect the slave cylinder (and rubber fork boot) is also well worth doing.

[The Veg]

The slack wasn't entirely due to the circlip being thinner, there really was a little clearance between the mount and the ring-groove on the new cylinder (the thinner ring added little slack though).

Got a nasty head-cold now so not much fettling is going to get done soon, bit I like the remote-bleed idea and just might have to incorporate that. Haven't forgotten those pictures either, stay tuned...

[Grizzly]

Not a Fan of speed bleeders, from my experience to get them air free they must be removed and the threads thoroughly greased before they work as advertized (i had them on my race car and there was a noticeable difference when bled properly), just like the pipe in fluid it draws air back in through the threads if the Nipple is loose when you take your foot off the brake/clutch.

MUCH better to do it old school. Prime the Master Cylinder then Pump three times, the trick next is to open and close quickly with the peddle down before the slave cylinder has chance loose all its pressure, use a clear hose into a bottle with the end submerged in brake fluid and watch for bubbles. Repeat until bubbles stop. I used to really like the pressure bleeder type that screws on the Master cylinder and pushes Fluid through (they work great in the right hands) but unfortunately i'd never recommend one after seeing one blow a seal and spray brake fluid all over a customers car

I have set my Clutch Bleeder up as Greg shows and it makes life so much easier.