Clutch bleeding

Hey guys,

I emailed this question to Eric but then decided others might have done the same thing I did. I installed my engine without bleeding the clutch slave cylinder on the ls motor prior to install. I can bleed it now but it is having very little affect to pedal pressure.

I tried using a power bleeder but could not get it create sufficient vacuum when the bleeder valve was opened.

Any ideas or do I have to pull the motor out and re bleed the setup?

Hey Collin, I just reached down from the passenger's side with my left arm/hand and opened the C5 bleed nipple while the neighbor kid pumped the clutch. I just put my finger on the end of the bleeder and let him pump the clutch. You can also tap hard on the clutch line while it is being bled, it releases any surface tension of bubbles on inner clutch line.

Tips:

Jack up the rear of the car!
Adjust the clutch master pushrod from under the dash for more travel to help "move" more fluid.
Tie a rope to the clutch pedal to pull it back up allows for faster priming.

Best method ever.... Tickperformance's remote bleeder w/speedbleeder valve. I bought this thing and bled the clutch BY MYSELF in less than 5 minutes! The assembly is 4 feet long so I could route it to a jar, slightly open the valve, start pumping, close the valvle.....DONE!!! Best money spent.... especially on a 944 V8.

what did you do with the bleeder when you were finished?

i bought a bleeder tool but I have never gotten it to work, so it might just be the tool is crappy. Its a mighty vac bleeder. I think I got it at harbor freight.

what about this method??

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what did you do with the bleeder when you were finished?

Just coil it up or zip tie it to the firewall somewhere. As every 944 owners knows, its gonna be used again!

i bought a bleeder tool but I have never gotten it to work, so it might just be the tool is crappy. Its a mighty vac bleeder. I think I got it at harbor freight.

To be quite honest, Ive never been able to get mine to actually do anything either. So, either were both dumbies or they are pieces of crap.

what about this method??

Yes, thank you for reminding me 944convert. Ive always used a dedicated reservoir for the clutch (before I had the TP remote bleeder assy.) when bleeding. After the bleeding was done, I hooked the hose back to the BMC reservoir.

But thats also another good method....just not really feasible with the C5 type clutch. Its internal and theres no nipple type bleeder available to attach a hose to.

when you used your power bleeder, did you find a hose big enough to attach to the outside of the bleeder valve or just a nipple to slide into the hole?

I think that might be one of my problems. I am going tot find a hose big enough to fir over the outside and see it that helps after jacking up the rear.

The 944 reservoir has two chambers in it, It is one housing but two different units. I think the part where the clutch gets its fluid from has air trapped in it. So I am hoping by lifting the cars ass I can get the fluid to stay where it is suppose to while bleeding.

I will post an update.

Yup, exactly. That is one of the reasons why so many have problems bleeding the clutch. It may look like theres fluid at the entrance of the nipple on the reservoir but its very shallow and if youre not careful, it will start suckin air.

But, I have managed to bleed it the way youre about to; the rear jacked up and otherwise as stock. However, the only way I could get it to bleed this way was by adjusting the clutch master pushrod (under the dash) all the way out so as to produce the most piston travel and hence, the most amount of fluid movement.

I dont think youll be happy even if you get a tube big enough to fit around the stock C5 bleeder...its hex = no good seal.

when you used your power bleeder, did you find a hose big enough to attach to the outside of the bleeder valve or just a nipple to slide into the hole?

The last time I tried the mitivac was with an LT1 in the car. This setup used an external standard type slave with standard bleeder. I fit the hose of the mitivac over the nipple, loosened the bleeder and tried it....30 in vacuum on the scale but nothing coming out! I never tried it again.

Thanks to the knowledge of the group the clutch system works properly now. The culprit was the reservoir trapping air in the lower half of its container where the clutch line hooks up.

I disconnected the line and hooked up to a make shift reservoir for the completion of the bleeding process. This gave me enough pressure in the pedal to move the clutch slave cylinder now.

Here are the pics of how I did it.
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Since most of the time I am solo on the project, I used my handle extension of my floor jack to press the clutch pedal down after pumping it, by jamming between the seat and pedal. Then I went around to open the bleeder valve. Within a couple tries I felt a significant improvement.