I'm overdue for a brake fluid change and will be doing it this weekend using ATE super blue. The clutch & brakes work off the same [font='Times New Roman']reservoir - correct? So do I bleed the clutch or the front driver's side last in the sequence of bleedling farthest to nearest. Also, I will be using a presure bleeder and I'm assuming the clutch is bled the same - open the valve and wait until new fluid come out - is this also correct?[/font]
[font='Times New Roman']Thanks[/font]
[font='Times New Roman']Tom[/font]

 

Bleeding the Mini's slave cylinder is quite tricky as it needs special tools. I recomend you have the dealer do this. I know....

 

I actually just did this myself, and it was quite easy. I got a pressure bleeder from PROMINI, and some ATE Super Blue, and went to town. Here was the procedure I followed....

1. Put MINI up on four jacks.
2. Remove wheels.
3. Fill pressure bleeder with 2 bottles of fluid.
4. Close top screw bleeder cap onto brake reservoir.
5. Pump up pressure bleeder to around 12-13psi. DO NOT SURPASS 15psi!!!
6. Attach length of clear tubing to bleed screw of right rear (passenger rear) with a catch can underneath.
7. Bleed until blue fluid comes out without bubbles then tighten bleed screw back up.
8. Check/pump up pressure bleeder back up to 12-13psi.
9. Repeat bleed procedure for left rear (driver's rear).
10. Check psi and bleed right front (passenger front).
11. Check psi and bleed left front (driver's front).
12. Check psi, climb under front of MINI and remove splash guard which covers clutch slave cylinder
13. The clutch slave cylinder is on the driver side of the car, in front of the transmission. BEFORE BLEEDING IT NEEDS TO BE COMPRESSED! It's quite easy to compress, and I just used some scrap blocks of wood to keep it compressed while bleeding).
14. Just as you bled each caliper, bleed the clutch.
15. Re-install the splash guard.
16. Slowly, unscrew the pump until pressure is released before removing the feed end over the reservoir!!!

And that's it. It's a pretty easy job. Just be careful of sucking air into the lines. I managed to do this, and had to re-bleed the brakes to clear it up.

 

SDIVER - WOW - thanks for the tip on the slave cylinder (and the great directions). I would have screwed that up for sure. I also have the PROMINI bleeder as others here have said it works well.


ONASLED - I take it you had a less than satisfactory experience - thanks for the warning. Just curious - did you know to compress the clutch before bleeding? I've looked at the slave cylinder and it apprears to have a standard bleeder valve.

 

No, I thought I knew what I was doing, but it became quite aparent that I did not . I've done it before on other cars, but this was a disaster.Got it working again OK, but it started to leak after that. My dealer took care of me though.