Dinnercoat

Is the circled item in this picture the described bleeder nipple required for bleeding the clutch system in my 84 non-GSL-SE which the Haynes manual fails to show me a picture of?



Also if anyone who lives in Fremont gets this msg and would be willing to come help me bleed the system out TONIGHT (Tuesday) with beer or some homemade dinner as a reward I can be caught via pm, aim (air and heart) and msn (cmdr_ikari@hotmail.com).

Mr_Rx7_Au

Yup, thats the one. Make sure you have rags handy and a long funnel/jar to capture the fluid.

I would be glad to help you but unless you wanna pay for the air ticket over, I don't think I'll be seeing you.

Dinnercoat

It's all good, I really hoping to do it tonight as its extremely squishy and I commute in heavy traffic.

Mine appears to be rather rusted, so it is that metal thing sticking up?

What is the black rubber thing sticking up just above and to the left iff the red circle I made?

mar3

iTrader: (8)

Yeppers...long socket 8mm if I remember right....

Mr_Rx7_Au

Yes it is the metal thing sticking up. Thats the slave cylinder bleed nipple. When you are ready to bleed it, turn if open until you see fluid going through your pipe into your jar (pressumably with bubbles)... keep getting someone to pump the clutch until you see no more bubbles (keep adding new clutch fluid until no more bubbles)... tighten nipple and see how the pedal feels.

You may have to do it a few times to get it all cleaned. BTW, it would probably be worth it at this time to replace both the master and slave cylinder, as well as the steel line and hose going from line to slave. Not too expensive and worth it.

Not sure what black rubber hose you are talking about on the pic.. can you be clearer?

Dinnercoat

It is a small hose going into it, both black rubber. I took that cap off thinking it would behold the nipple thing but nope, i just need to get through the rust of the actual nipple in order to turn it.

Oh do I turn the entire shaft of the nipple thing or just the little top part?

Thank you guys so much for help really it is appreciated.

Mr_Rx7_Au

Just the little top part, until its loose enough that when you pump the clutch, you can see fluid go through. Too far with the nipple and the clutch pedal will stay on the floor. Not enough and your clutch pedal will just pump normally with no fluid coming through the nipple.

Forgive me for not recognising that hose, your usa spec is a little different than here. But it looks like something to do with your solenoids. Does it go up into your carb/air cleaner assembly?

Dinnercoat

No it looks like it goes back into the clutch system, it appeared to have brake fluid under the cap and had a little reatainer like that under the cap of the slave cylinder?

I managed to get it popped back on firmly so I'm not worried about something freakish happening while on the freeway tomorrow morning...

Mr_Rx7_Au

See you on MSN

bliffle

Bleeding the clutch is a bit of a nuisance, at least for me. You've gotta put a hose over that (8mm) nipple and either run it into a beer bottle to catch the excess fluid AND guard against air intake, OR you gotta have a no-hands bleeder nipple with a check valve in place of the original nipple (Kragens has it, even in Fremont I guess). It still takes several tries to get it right.

Next time I have to do that I'm gonna get a power bleeder.

While you're at it replace the flexi-hose that runs along the firewall from the master to the slave: that damn thing has a tendency to leak in a discrete way that will drive you nuts. Do that before replacing the master/slave because the hose is easy and the cylinders are hard, and they necessitate a lot more bleeding.

I'm nearby in Los Altos, but I've eaten already, and had a beer, and it's 10:30PM. Mostly I'm just lazy, but since I'm also good at making up excuses I thought I'd throw those in for free.

B

grease

Make yourself a pressure bleeder...ACE hardware sells a 1/2 gallon pump type garden sprayer for $9.99...get one and 10' of 1/4" clear vinyl hose (chemical rated), a 1/4" brass hose barb(screw in type) and a HELP master cylinder cap ($1.99 at Advance Auto), along with a 16 oz bottle of COKE, Pepsi or your other favorite drink. . Remove the factory hose assembly from the sprayer and replace it with about a 8' length of the vinyl hose. Drill a hole in the center of the master cylinder cap and screw in the hose barb using liberal amounts of RTV to sesl the threads. Also seal the vent hole in the cap with RTV, set this assembly aside to cure. Open and drink the COKE... drill a hole in the screw on cap of the coke bottle, insert the remaining 2' length of vinyl hose, rinse out the now empty coke bottle, screw on the cap. Attach the open end of the hose from the sprayer to the hose barb on the master cylinder cap, Secure with a clamp or a nylon tie wrap. Put 1 quart of brake fluid in the sprayer, pump it slowly while watching the brake fluid push the air out of the vinyl hose, when the fluid reaches the cap, screw the cap onto the clutch master cylinder. Loosen the bleeder nipple on the slave cylinder, attach the other end of the hose attached to the coke bottle. Pump the sprayer, and watch the fluid coming out of the slave cylinder until all bubbles stop. Tighten the bleeder nipple, remove the hose from the nipple. SLOWLY open the top of the sprayer allowing the pressure to equalize. When done, remove the cap from the master cylinder, top off or lower the fluid level as required and you are good to go. It takes a lot less time to make the pressure bleeder and bleed the clutch system than it took me to write this!...

netherx7

The black thing you're referring to seems to be the purge valve, designed to lead evaporative fumes from the fuel tank and the charcoal canister into the intake manifold when the engine is running.

Dinnercoat

Something like this?

http://www.bmw-m.net/TechProc/bleeder.htm

Dinnercoat

What is the best way to get in there and actually loosen the damn thing (bleeder nipple)? I don't exactly have huge hands but I'm having a bitch of a time just trying to get in there and loosen it...

cpt_gloval

iTrader: (1)

hammmy and i did mine this weekend. it took like 20 minutes start to finish.

after we were done, the clutch didn't return until i flipped it up with my foot, but it works fine - don't let that worry you.

Pele

iTrader: (28)

I gotcha all beat on the el-cheapo brake power bleeder.

Take an old bike inner tube. Slice it somewhere. Tie one end off in a knot. Stretch the other end over your master cylinder resivour. If it doesn't stay in place, rubber bands or zip ties are your friends.

Get bicycle pump and inflate the tube a little bit.

Done deal.

aussiesmg

iTrader: (1)

Use a 1/4 inch 8mm deep well socket, an extension and rachet, its easy then. If you bleed it without a tube or spill some brake fluid, make sure you wash the area down well with water to stop the fluid from stripping your paint.

Dinnercoat

So using said made pressure bleeder you don't ever need to touch the clutch pedal during the process?

My girlfriend and I made one of these tonight and tried it out and I think we introduced as much air as was in there, however the fluid is all nice and clean now.

Part of the problem though is we didn't have a chance to RTV the master cylinder cap so it was sucking air back up through the pressure bleeder tub so we think that was the main problem, so we're going to RTV the **** out of it and let it cure nice and good and try again.

In the mean I'm going to continue doing what I was doing, which is pumping the clutch pedal like crazy at any and all stops I encounter...

grease

Yep.. using said home made pressure bleeder you never have to pump the pedal. That vent hole has to be plugged or you will get air in the system, or worse, squirt brake fluid all over to hell and gone. You can also add about a 1" piece of 1/4" copper tubeing to the inside of the master cylinder cap, attach it to the hose barb in the cap with a compression fitting. Don't worry if this wobbles a bit, it won't hurt anything. Now, with your sealed and cured master cylinder cap ready, put about a quart of brake fluid in the sprayer. Close sprayer, pump the sprayer gently and watch the fluid progress down the line until it reaches the cap. NOW install the cap on the master cylinder, pump up the sprayer a bit (you do not want or need more than about 15 -20 lbs of pressure here, so don't pump like you are trying to put out a fire at your neighbor's house) and bleed the slave cylinder. If done correctly, you will not have any air in the system and your clutch pedal will be nice and firm. Now to the reason for the 1" copper tube extension..... leavce the cap on the master cylinder, be sure the sprayer is lower than the master cylinder, like on the ground. SLOWLY open the top of the sprayer and allow the pressure to equalize. Brake fluid will flow from the master cylinder back into the sprayer bottle, and stop when it reaches a level just below the copper tube which is inside the master cylinder. This just so happens tyo be the correct level for fluid in the master cylinder. No more trying to figure out how to get the excess fluid out of the resivoir, no more stealing your wife, girlfriend,mother or significant other's turkey baster to get the excess fluid out of the resivoir.

Enjoy

Dinnercoat

Yeah the best and easiest way for me to work it with the tube on the nipple is to be leaning way across from the passenger side and finagle my hand to it from that side and slip a spanner over it then put the tube on, that way I can loosen and tighten it with the tube still on.

eViLjAy

Damn people. Sure know how to make a simple process waaaaay complex. Easy way is just get a friend to sit in the car and pump the pedal a few times, then hold it to the floor and crack open the valve, see air bubbles and fluid come out, repete till no more bubbles come out, done. Go crack a beer and laugh at these people building bleeding setups.

ratboy

iTrader: (1)

This is the best ghetto idea of them all. I would probably rinse out the tube before inflating so you dont blow talc into your hydrolics from the tube. I use a mighty vac bleeder and it kicks ***.

mar3

iTrader: (8)

I just fill the master, screw on the pressure cap, set the compressor to 5 lbs and then crack the slave bleed screw with a clear tube attached....since it's a Russell Speed Bleeder, I just wait for the bubbles to be gone and then close the screw.

Turn off the compressor, relieve pressure in the system and replace pressure cap with regular cap....I'm done....works the same for the brakes....

Dinnercoat

Ok so I think all the squishy/sticky clutch pedal-ness I've been experiencing as of late is not due to air so much in my system as I noticed a cap was somewhat loose. Loose by about, 1/4 turn, so I tightened that up and went out to buy some wiring crap for the efan and more brake fluid and I noticed hey, my pedal isn't sticking like a mother ******.

Does anyone know if the brake and clutch systems are connected? If so it may also explain why when I would drive around (before I noticed this) that whenever I would be pressing in the brake, the clutch pedal seemed to stop sticking. Now I know theres still a bit of air in the clutch system as the pedal is springy but hey at least not it doesn't stick like a mother ******. Still going to bleed it out otnight, the normal, old fashioned way without my fancy made pressure bleeder...

Dinnercoat

Wow bleeding the clutch without a pressure bleeder by yourself SUCKS.

Got it bled, think the cap was the real culprit, but at least my system should be nice and... bled now.