Bleeding Clutch Hydraulic System

[ieusoutlaw]

I have a 2001 Ford Ranger 3.0. I just replaced the clutch (FUN) that included the pilot bearing, flywheel, clutch plate, pressure plate and the slave cylinder! I then proceeded to bleed the hydraulic system and did it over again and over again! This went on for two days! Then I decided I would ask someone for help so I called transmission shops, dealerships, got online read forums, ordered different manuals etc. Everything and everyone pointed to air in the system, but holy crap how much more air can I bleed when I don't see any air bubbles and went through 6 bottles of fluid! Then I noticed that a lot of people were having similar problems with air in the system. I have heard everything from raising the front end, shaking the master cylinder to using a mighty vac to suck the air out! Do any of these work? Does anyone have any real working advice on this? This seems to be a pretty common issue! Help me bring my Ranger back from the dead!!!!

 

[cocoasranger]

Bottom line answer is that due to the tilted position of the clutch master on the firewall, usually no amount of bleeding will remove all the trapped air. You are basically left with two choices.

1. bench bleed the master/line assembly with the tail end of the master elevated till pushing the actuator rod is like pushing against a concrete wall. You can do this because there is a check valve at the end of the line to exclude air.

2. Unbolt the clutch master from the firewall without disconnecting the line and bleed in place till there is no free play. Make sure the clutch master is tilted so the trapped air can escape while you are bleeding. This may be the easiest and quickest method.

 

[ieusoutlaw]

Bottom line answer is that due to the tilted position of the clutch master on the firewall, usually no amount of bleeding will remove all the trapped air. You are basically left with two choices.

1. bench bleed the master/line assembly with the tail end of the master elevated till pushing the actuator rod is like pushing against a concrete wall. You can do this because there is a check valve at the end of the line to exclude air.

2. Unbolt the clutch master from the firewall without disconnecting the line and bleed in place till there is no free play. Make sure the clutch master is tilted so the trapped air can escape while you are bleeding. This may be the easiest and quickest method.

My master cylinder which i just replaced today (didn't fix the problem) does not bolt on. It is actually is a twist in type that is on the firewall. The only way to take it off is to disconnect it from the pedal and twist it out of the firewall. But before I installed the new one i did try to bench bleed it. But I did not try turning it upside down. Could it help if I remove the master again and turn it upside down while bench bleeding?

NOTE: The pedal goes about 3/4 of the way down then gets really stiff to where it stops. Also, The car starts in first gear and doesn't jump forward. With that said could this still be a air problem?

 

[cocoasranger]

Two points. first, my clutch master was also a twist on type, but it twisted on to a plate which was then secured with two bolts to the firewall. I'm not sure if the later models like yours are made like this, but it won't affect how it's bled.

Second, all you have to do is tilt the master about 30 degrees and then stroke the actuator till there is no air/movement. This is so the air trapped in the end of the cylinder can escape. This can be done by bench bleeding, by bleeding in the truck (with master loose), or by parking on a really steep hill facing upward while bleeding; anything to get the cylinder tilted while bleeding.

 

[ieusoutlaw]

Thank you for your information I will definately try that once I get back to the bleeding point again. I replaced the slave again cause it had a leak. I also replaced the entire master cylinder again with a ford factory master. This one supposedly came pre bled. So I don't think it's an air problem anymore, but then again i'm an amateur!

Have you ever heard of the pressure plate needing to be adjusted? The reason I ask is it just seems to me that my slave is "bottoming" out before it gets to disengage the clutch. My pedal stops before the floor when pressure is built up, at that same time the slave looks to have bottomed out. Like it cannot go forward any further. I took the transmission out for the 2nd time because I noticed there was fluid coming from the transmission and sure enough the NEW slave had a leak. Maybe this is due to the slave being put under to much pressure after it bottomed out? I'm totally at a loss and I don't know what else to do.