Seems like there's an awful lot of posters, needing to know how to do this.

And an awful lot of ways to do it, tons of tips and tricks.

Well, this is the easy way. Albeit, slightly messy (Err, Working on Cars!! ") but, very quick (twenty mins) and foolproof. Taught to me by Steve Tech at Custom MINI Shop Fresno.

All you need is a clean bowl, a couple of quarts of brake fluid, mechanic's gloves and some shop towels, for the drips.

Instructions:

Take the clutch slave cylinder off the car. Leave the cap on the brake fluid reservoir.

Clean the slave cylinder as best you can, important!! You don't wanna get grime in the cylinder.

Take off the bleed valve/nipple.

Fill your bowl with brake fluid.

Wearing a pair of surgical/mechanic's gloves, submerge the slave cylinder completely in brake fluid. Compress the cylinder, then let it open, repeat three or four times until all the bubbles are out.

While the cylinder is still submerged, in the extended position, re-attach and tighten the bleed valve/nipple.

Loosen the cap on the brake fluid reservoir. Bleed the clutch line, gravity will work. Use a an old container to catch the brake fluid.

Tighten the cap on the brake fluid reservoir.

Clean and re-attach the slave cylinder to the car.

Attach clutch line to slave cylinder.

Top off brake fluid.

Done.

 

Cheers Mods!!

 

Thanks, does seem like it would be easy although maybe a little messy but so many people have a hell of a time doing this that a little messy is a good tradeoff to get it done easily.

 

If part of this "easy" process is bleeding the clutch system, then I don't get it as changing the fluid is simply repeated bleeding with clean fluid without removing slave cylinders, submerging things, etc.

- Mark

 

I've seen folks struggle to do this with the cylinder on the car, not just MINI's.
Two people, power bleeders, lying on their backs, all that good stuff.

All I'm doing is suggesting an alternate way of doing it.

 

I agree, I don't understand why you would need to remove the clutch cylinder from the car. You should never have air bubbles in the cylinder as long as the system stays sealed with no leaks.

If you just want to flush the system with clean fluid, I think that removing the cylinder and having to deal with introducing air into the system is a bad idea. Just bleed the system and put in new fluid....doesn't get any easier than that.

Would you remove a brake caliper to flush your brake fluid? No.

 

What he is describing is basicly a (pardon my nickname)getto bench bleed....most useful with NEW items...
A flush is just a change of fluid ...a bleed removes air...

 

I'm sure that many members will appreciate this post In the future as an alternative, this useful info especially if you have a new slave going in. Thanks Stoker and I agree that many people have a hard time bleeding our cars so is nice to know every possible way to bleed

 

+1

 

Exactly!
+1

 

Yes, I agree. But he's talking about pulling a working clutch cylinder off his car and bench bleeding it.

 

Yes, I agree. That's why I don't understand why you would need to ever bench bleed a clutch cylinder that was already on the car and working. I think most people just want to flush their system with fresh fluid.....opening the system up and introducing air and dirt into it should never be done. Even after you bench bleed the cylinder and hook it back up, you still need to bleed the air bubbles out of the system.....so what did you really gain by pulling the cylinder off and bench bleeding it? Nothing.

Now for a brand new clutch cylinder or brake master cylinder.....then yes, you would need to bench bleed it first before installing it. But I would NEVER pull off a working cylinder and bench bleed it...thats just extra work with no gains.

 

...Not to mention 2 qts/Liters of ATE TYP200 at today's prices! Granted, it's one of the most consternating jobs there is on a MINI. My motto:"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

 

The op NEVER SAID you should do a bench bleed for no reason....
Fact...they do fail...
Fact even shops have issues trying to bleed them with skill and experience....
So this "trick" is one more way to pre-bleed a new unit....on many cars you CAN BUY PREBLEED UNITS...THE MINI IS NOT ONE....should be imo.
The guy simply shares a trick somebody showed him...a pro that works on mini's all day, and folks act like he is telling you YOU SHOULD USE THIS TRICK....he is only telling you about the techniques... It is UP TO YOU to determine if it is proper to use it in YOUR situation. Simple.
Just trying do a flush...trick is crazy overkill....
But if you have a new part, might be good to START with this trick.....

 

+1

 

Once again....I completely agree with you. BUT for someone who isn't that mechanically skilled, or someone who hasn't been around cars much, when they see instructions like ....

"Take the clutch slave cylinder off the car. Leave the cap on the brake fluid reservoir.

Clean the slave cylinder as best you can, important!! You don't wanna get grime in the cylinder."

It may make them think that it's necessary to do this in order to bleed your clutch. OP is talking about bench bleeding a used cylinder, and then putting the same cylinder back on the car. I just think that could cause some people some problems......it needs to say somewhere "How to bleed a brand new clutch cylinder". I cant' think of any reason you would bleed a cylinder that is on the car, and then put that same cylinder back on. If it's bad, you would never reuse it.

Just my two cents...

 

Well now that's been said, they'll know lol. Good info nevertheless.