Blk 93

.. or so it seems.
My biggest issue is difficulty reclocking turbo twin cartridges I rebuilt 5*counterclockwise. Y-pipe won't mate properly where they sit now. I used a long pair of angled needlenose pliers to get circlips in, but the grippy inner face of plier tips won't grab only the thickness of installed clips. Has anyone ever sourced a circlip compression removal tool that works for more than a few times ?

I also had to replace clutch slave + master cylinders and was hoping to pump bleed from the slave bleed nipple up towards the brake reservoir by pressurising the brake fluid bottle with a hand pump. Would it be best to leave the clutch pedal up in normal position ? I used the same hand pump method to fill the transmission, so I hope it will work ?

Thanks

Blk 93

No replies .. no one has replaced turbo cartridges or removed turbo spring clips ?

Update on clutch .. I decided to try bleeding clutch hydraulic system using pump vaccuum to draw air/fluid through slave cyl bleed nipple into a bottle, but hose wasn't the tightest fit. so I decided to try pumping clutch pedal with slave bleed screw closed, but got no buildup of pedal pressure. Instead, I got a lot of slave cylinder fluid in or on clutch, and it dripped out bottom of tranny, mostly behind engine mounts.
I thought the slave cyl shaft was straight when I bolted slave cylinder in place. If not properly seated, does the slave get damaged needing replacement, or need a seal replacement , or ? There was 0 pedal resistance, so little to no force exerted on the slave cylinder. (made in China)
I'll try to look into trans inspection covers to see exactly what's going on, if/when I can recruit someone to operate clutch pedal.
Throw out bearing appeared to be normal, but seems odd two clutch slaves would fail ? Anybody ?

losing_rx7

Did you bench bleed your master prior to installation?

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Sorry for the slow response on this one

Yes there are large C-clip pliers that will work on the turbo clips. But I warn you, trying to get to them with the turbos installed will be a HUGE pain if not impossible.

Also, don't fall to temptation and try and pry or hammer the compressor housings where they need to be. Been there, done that, shattered my nice modified Y-pipe doing it. VERY lucky I didn't break the 99 spec turbo compressor cover.

This is why I recommend getting as MUCH of the engine built on an engine stand before dropping in. Fixing this on an engine stand would be a cinch.

On the clutch hydraulics, most likely the end of the slave cylinder didn't line up with the clutch fork. When that happens it can get between the bottom of the fork and the body of the trans. About 3 pumps of the clutch and you eject the guts of the slave into the bell housing along with a bunch of fluid.

It sucks but it's not that hard to put back together. Pull the starter and inspection plate, find all the pieces, and put it all back together. Also if the throwout bearing isn't engaged and you pump the clutch you'll have the same situation happen.

When installing the slave I like to reach up through the starter hole to make sure the end of the slave engages the clutch fork properly.

Vacuum bleed usually works well to get the slave started bleeding, you may need to do a traditional two man bleed as well. I've also found that when it's 80% of where it should be do some hard, fast pumps of the clutch pedal, many times that seems to get air up through the system and out and the pedal is good.

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Oh, a quick look on Amazon I found this -


Also you are looking for "snap ring pliers" - many options when searching for large snap ring pliers.

I have a set that's kind of crappy that works but I got them like 15 years ago, no idea where, but they work good enough.

Dale

Blk 93

I think you're absolutely right on (as always) on the clutch slave rod, Dale. I will pull my starter this time to make sure the rod is properly seated on the throw out lever depression.
I thought I had it positioned right, but obviously not. It was a major mistake not building up block outside the engine bay this time around, as you suggested. So many things that should only take minutes to mount, took 5 to 10x longer ..
I pulled the misclocked turbos out. I'll have to unbolt coolant lines at firewall endhousing to get at circlip ends. If I had access to a welder or braising torch I could quickly fabricate the correct hardened clip tool ends, but I'll keep shopping on Amazon this time aound, I guess. It's going to cost $50+ either way, but I need to get oil + coolant in block ASAP,
and no installed turbos means further delays.
Not going to prybar a turbo endhousing even with lubrication. Circlips need to be either compressed or pulled
IMHO,
Thanks for your replies everyone

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

A bit late to the thread…
Forget the ‘pressurizing the brake fluid bottle’ thing. You’ll just make a big(ger) mess and you never want to push fluid toward the reservoir.
When you’re confident the slave cylinder rod is seated properly and you’ve rinsed all the fluid off, fill the reservoir and either…
-have a friend pump the clutch while you work the bleed screw on the slave while keeping a close eye on the level of the CLUTCH portion of the reservoir. Be careful as there’s a bulk-head on the clutch portion of the reservoir and with clean fluid it’s easy to miss that it’s gone dry while the rest of the reservoir isn’t. I like to put a small light behind it to make it easier,
-For maybe $80 a MOTIVE pressure bleeder was the shiz for me doing this same job last spring. You can do it yourself and not worry about keeping fluid level high enough. I’ll be using it again this fall for a complete brake flush.

Blk 93

Thanks Sgtblue

Ceylon

iTrader: (3)

If you pull the turbos and the manifold then all you need is a level surface, y pipe and a spirit level to set up the turbos correctly so they fit every time .

Blk 93

I eventually did this using spare turbos as a reference.
Knowledge and attention to detail that I was lacking at the time. ( ;
The best advice was Dale's ... assemble it all before installing the block in the engine bay. Even the transmission,
in my opinion.

Blk 93

Still struggling with bleeding the clutch. I think I need to bench bleed the new master because pressurizing the reservoir with a motive pump isn't working. Air pockets aren't moving. Has anyone filled a master cylinder with brake fluid while installed in the car ? I was thinking of just disconnecting the hard line and pumping brake fluid through a hose to the master. Getting the master cyl in + out was pretty tough. The new slave cyl I bought seems to reintroduce air after the bleeder valve is closed because brake fluid travels back up the tube 3 or 4 inches even with 15 lbs of pressure applied at the other end. Yet no brake fluid has ever dripped out. Pushing the clutch pedal 25x doesn't build pressure, so the master must still be full of air.
The clutch pedal comes off the floor and the clutch collar is properly seated. Looking for guidance but expect the master needs to come out yet again to be bench bled.

cr-rex

iTrader: (114)

ive never found bench bleeding to be necessary at all. no clutch or brake master ive ever installed in any car have i ever done a bench bleed. one time on a 300zx i got my *** beat trying to bleed the brakes only to find the adjustment rod at the pedal was simply too short. lengthened it and it bleed perfectly. so i would say try that

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Make sure the slave is installed properly. It's easy to have the tip of the slave that engages the clutch fork miss the fork and hang below it. I typically recommend pulling the starter since you can feel up through the starter hole to make sure the end of the slave is engaged with the clutch fork.

Also the throwout bearing needs to be popped in to the pressure plate.

You can "bench bleed" in the car, just disconnect the hard line from the master, put the tube on it going into the reservoir, and pump the pedal.

Once bleeding, I find it's good to do a traditional press down, open bleed screw, close, pull up on pedal with a friend. Do that for a while until you start getting some pressure then pump the clutch pedal hard and fast 10 times or so to help get any air up to the top.

Dale

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Edit…

Blk 93

Thanks guys.I'm going to try tilting the drain tubing upwards from the screw so only fluid goes back into the slave and air rises up the drain tube. I'll pump the pedal with the screw open. I'll try anything to avoid pulling the master a 2nd time,
ha-ha. I'll get a speed-check valve bleed screw to replace the one on this slave or use the one from my original blown slave if possible.

TomU

iTrader: (11)

I found speed bleeders to be crap. If they didn't break off, they froze up. Best to use a power bleeder. You don't even need to fill it with fluid, just don't let the MC go dry

And i always "bench" bleed a dry MC

scotty305

iTrader: (2)

I replaced my car's clutch master cylinder, it's been long enough that I forget exactly what I did during the bench bleeding process. There's a very simple bench bleed procedure in this old how-to video, without using any special fittings or hoses.


When you need to bleed the clutch line (near the slave cylinder) or the brake calipers, I've had good success with this method. I used a clear plastic water bottle, it's nice to see the fluid color during the process.
(note the brake bleeder ports for our RX7s are smaller than the 1/4" on the truck from this video, I think I used 3/16" clear 'carburetor low-pressure fuel line' from a local auto parts store)