Hi All,

A few weeks back my clutch (R53s) went a bit soft and getting into 1st from a standstill was getting hard. I saw the video by Mod mini and thought its a piece of cake. I bought my self a power bleeder and got on with the job and removed the clutch slave and compressed it.



At 15 psi, my brake reservoir cracks, and brake fluid is ejaculated all over. luckily the crack was on the curved face on the top of the reservoir, towards the firewall, and not much loss of fluid. I try JB plastic to fix the crack but did not work.

I order the reservoir and in the meantime, I see another video where the clutch is bled using the two-man job. I try that the 1st time, no Bueno. After the second time, the clutch has bite but still does not shift as smooth as it used to but no grinding and I drive for a few hours. I sadly went after perfection and tried bleeding again, nothing after that, the clutch pedal is on the floor. I give up.

A week later my brake reservoir arrives with a new clutch slave and some ATE 200. I change the reservoir and I use the pressure bleeder again now only at 10 psi. I see bubbles at first, then a smooth stream of fluid, I let the pressure come to 0 with the bleed screw cracked open. For some reason comes a burst of air and no fluid as the pressure in the bleeder is close to 0 psi!! I go check the reservoir level it is well above min. I thought maybe because I change the reservoir there is more air. I try multiple times using the pressure bleeder and run through a quart of fluid and the same thing every time!! Some bubble first, then a stream, then a fountain of air. Clutch pedal on the floor. I give up again.

Today I tried the two-man method again, I have some feel and can just about shift to 1st. I have the pedal pressed overnight and hopefully, it is at least good enough tomorrow to take it to a shop.

My QUESTION:

1. Anyone has issues with pressure bleeding the clutch? Why am I seeing what I am seeing? Am I DOING SOMETHING WRONG?
2. Can a non-mini shop deal with bleeding the slave?

I notice a weird thing where if I have the pressure bleeder at 10 psi and I use the safety/relief valve on it to drop the pressure back to 0 psi/ atmosphere, I see some bubble come back into the reservoir.

Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!

 

I’ve been through this with a couple cars and about to do it again.

the design of the slave makes it retain air. You have to get it in a position where the slave bellows are pointing straight down. This lets the air come out of the bleeder. I use a pressure bleeder too. I do some two person bleeding then finish up with pressure again. Reinstall it without letting the bellows extend any more than necessary.

Lastly, once you have a pretty good pedal, uae a stick to press the clutch pedal all they way down and leave it overnight. Should be good after that.
i will be doing this again later in the week when my new slave arrives.

 

Is it even possible to get the slave vertical with the solid feed line? I can barely get it to 45 degrees.

 

If you put the front end in service mode you can.

 

I've run into this before. There's a baffle inside the reservoir that severely restricts the flow of fluid into the clutch circuit. If you draw off fluid too quickly from the slave you end up depleting the fluid in the clutch portion of reservoir and a big gulp of air enters the line.
Try it again but draw fluid out of the slave at a slow trickle.

And as jcsnlynn says, you only need to have the bleed screw pointing up, you don't need the slave completely vertical.

Also, while you have the bleeder hooked up you should just flush the entire brake system too.

 

When I had that issue after installing my new clutch, I just used a 2x4 to hold the clutch pedal down overnight.....saw someone else saying that would get all of the air out. Sure enough, it worked like a champ!!

 

This works!!

 

I had slow bled the slave using the power bleeder and then some 2 man bleeding and left it overnight with the pedal pressed down. I have clean shifts but I know it can be better. The bite point is just off the floor. I'll try again this weekend but want to drive for now!!

Thank you all.

 

Revival for someone who can’t get the clutch to bleed= me 😔
when people use the 2x4 overnight trick to gravity bleed- do they open the bleeder cable at the slave cylinder?
thank you

 

No. The overnight pushing the clutch pedal down is to get the sponginess out of the pedal. Keep the bleeder closed. Hopefully any small bubbles will travel back up the line and firm up the pedal.

 

oh. That’s what happens. Ok. Thanks. I suppose I’d need to have a pedal that has some resistance to start with. Back to bleeding then.

 

Yeah - What was mentioned above: Compress the clutch pedal down over night with a length of rod or wood.

I only re-emphasize this because ...
Just a memoir from my past experience:
Years ago after having my clutch replaced by a "5 star" inept independent BMW/Mini garage, my clutch pedal only engaged/disengaged less than 1/2" from the floor.
The mechanic told me that - "it was due to a new clutch and will improve after break-in - over-time".
At the time - my daily commute to work was only 1.5mi round-trip under suburbia/metro conditions @ 35-45mph, For 4years my Mini hardly if ever "saw" past 3rd gear.(less than 1,000mi/year).
During those 4 years, the clutch pedal never improved.
I'd subsequently changed jobs, 24mi round-trip. I did some reading and came across a few threads and discussions relating to the low pedal / clutch symptoms which mentioned the "clutch pedal to the floor overnight" solution.
Although it had now been 4.5 years, I decided to try it - pinning the clutch pedal to the floor overnight with a 2.5" length aluminum conduit.
The next day I could gradually feel the difference in travel/engagement/disengagement. To dispel any illusion; I measured the pedal distance from the floor and surprisingly gained about 1/2" compared from where it was (the past 4years) to the day before.

The point for my longwinded anecdote: Even after a long period of time, (although hard to believe) - the method described above (still) actually worked/helped in my case.

Call it a fluke?...Maybe?

 

@Here2Go nice. I need to 1) get the pedal to “bite” right now it’s limp to floor and will pop up if I tap back with my hand. 2) try the next bleed method down the “this worked for me. Maybe I lucked out” list. I’ve tried the power bleed and the vacuum method already. 3) figure out why when pressing the clutch pedal, the fork doesn’t move (and I use the term “pressing” very loosely as it takes practically zero force). I can move the fork hand 1” or so towards the slave cylinder which has resistance (I assume from a spring in it). This leads me to believe that the guts of clutch and tranny aren’t completely toast.

 

3.5 year 25k mile review.... haven't had to bleed it again!
Good luck

 

@madcanvis - I wish I could be of more help.
I'm lucky enough (though prepared & intended) at the time, not to have to replace my slave while power bleeding and flushing the brake fluid system - not long ago.
I've heard the horror stories and it stressed me out. Fortunately, my slave appeared to be in very good condition (not leaking or old dried out boot) and functioned perfectly. (sorry - I know this doesn't help you much.)
Power bleeding (@ 12psi), flushing the entire brake fluid system went very well.
I'd documented a post about it in one of discussions ('what did you do to your Mini today' (?) ) -
One of the first things I discovered and emphatically tried to encourage the (would-be) readers, was to check the upper edge of the reservoir directly underneath the left cowl vent/intake. These things are prone to degradation being subjected to environmental air, dirt, water, heat due to their positioning under the cowl vent. I was fortunate to have seen many of them (including my own) at salvage yard Minis to realize this before attempting/impossible to power bleed. Therefore I had purchased and installed a new reservoir before starting the process.

Even though I didn't need to replace my slave; I felt that since I had opened the system up while replacing the reservoir tank, I still felt that there may have been a potential to allow air in the slave line.
So I felt it only prudent to bleed the slave just as a precautionary measure.

*This is the part where I should keep my mouth shut as I have for so long (since bleeding the system)...the more seasoned experienced may think I'm an idiot for doing so but...
While the system was under pressure, I ran a small diam fish tank tubing to the slave's bleeder and the other end to a (*depressed*) 50mil plastic syringe. I cracked open the bleeder - a few (not many) bubbles emerged - I then pulled back on the syringe plunger, drawing out any potential remaining air and bubble free fluid.
I already achieved a nice solid clutch pedal beforehand without really needing to improvise the syringe - but...
It may or may not help you.

Now it can be told. My conscience is clear - me = idiot or not.