More G50 clutch questions...

[Rick Lee]

After my problem last weekend and bleeding the clutch, I thought all was well. The clutch felt brand new. Well, Friday night the same problem recurred. So we bled it again today and my friend said he saw some more air come out. I hardly drove it between bleeds - maybe 60 miles.

Some folks here have said I need to use a pressure bleeder. Why is this, and could my not having done so be what's causing this problem to happen again?

A pressure bleeder costs about the same as a master cylinder. Which should I buy? My friend (Green 912) says I should just keep bleeding it, in the hope of eventually working the bubbles all the way out. What difference will a pressure bleeder make? And how do I determine whether the master and/or slave cylinder are shot? Thanks.

[KTL]

When I manual bled my clutch, it worked for the time until I got the pressure bleeder. That was about a month, but I don't drive my car much but on the weekends. I didn't like how it felt though. There was a small spot in the middle of travel that felt mushy. When I pressure bled it, the colorless Castrol GT LMA fluid that I used to manual bleed it came out frothy looking until the pressure bled ATE blue came through nice and clear.

I think a pressure bleeder is recommended (I remember seeing the 84-89 911 Porsche repair microfiche saying a pressure bleed is needed) because the master cyl. doesn't move enough fluid to be effective in manual bleeding. Definitely could be the cause of your problem.

I'd get the pressure bleeder just because it makes the whole bleeding process a one man job and you don't have to worry about running the reservoir too low and then you gotta start all over again. It really is worth the 40something bucks for the Motive Products bleeder here at Pelican. Nice product. Sturdy plastic construction with a metal adapter cap to connect to the car's reservoir. Has a built-in gauge to tell you how much pressure you've pumped into the system. I think you want to pressurize it to 14 psi.

Probably didn't get all the air out the first time, but for it to become problematic instead of just soft, there might be a leak.

Check the master at the pedal cluster to see if there's any leakage there.

Check the cloth braid hoses there also to make sure they're secure and not allowing any sort of leakage (check the hose at the reservoir in the trunk too- it's the pass. side of the reservoir).

Check where the part rubber, part hard line is connected under the car where the parking brake cables and other stuff come out of the floor of the car and into the engine area.

The slave cylinder at the trans. would show signs of leakage too. Check the fitting from the feed line to the body of the slave cylinder for leakage.

Check the bleed nipple and the boot/piston area for leakage as well.

I think if your master or slave are failing, you would have some noisy gear selection (grinding gears) because the clutch wouldn't be fully disengaged from the lack of fluid displacement by the master or slave cylinders.

Hope this helps!

[Don Plumley]

Add my vote for getting the pressure bleeder. If I can use it, anyone can.

Don

[avi8torny]

I still think it's your slave cylinder acting up...same symptoms with mine...replacing it was the cure