Bleeding the clutch.
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Junior User
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 79
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From: Orange Park, Florida
Bleeding the clutch.
Had to replace the throw out bearing so I replaced the slave cylinder while I was at it, along with a new clutch and turned the flywheel. All is back together. Got it in with a lot of cussing.... Now that everything is ready to go. I can't seem to get any pedal at all. We have been bleeding it and I am getting fluid from the bleeder port. Just don't seem to move the throw bearing at all.. Anyone have any good ideas??
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 3,206
Likes: 3
From: Oakhust NJ Jersey Shore
Those things are the biggest pain in the a** FORD HAS EVER DONE, you really need a power bleeder but it can be done with three friends.
1) Have one friend up top ready to fill the slave with new clean fluid, if it runs low start all over.
2) Have friend two sit in the truck ready to work the clutch.
the poor guy on the bottom ( who will be coated with brake fluid) is the most important.
step on the clutch pedal slightly, to prevent fluid from coming back up the slave, open the bleeder down below and using a long screwdriver or thin prybar push the release bearing all the way back till it wont go any more, you should be 3 inches from the pressure plate. close the bleeder screw, release the prybar and as the bearing comes back toward the pressure plate, make sure the guy upstairs is watching the fluid level. do that a couple times, you should have a pedal, you may have to do some pump and open, but that will get it done.
1) Have one friend up top ready to fill the slave with new clean fluid, if it runs low start all over.
2) Have friend two sit in the truck ready to work the clutch.
the poor guy on the bottom ( who will be coated with brake fluid) is the most important.
step on the clutch pedal slightly, to prevent fluid from coming back up the slave, open the bleeder down below and using a long screwdriver or thin prybar push the release bearing all the way back till it wont go any more, you should be 3 inches from the pressure plate. close the bleeder screw, release the prybar and as the bearing comes back toward the pressure plate, make sure the guy upstairs is watching the fluid level. do that a couple times, you should have a pedal, you may have to do some pump and open, but that will get it done.
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Junior User
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 79
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From: Orange Park, Florida
94
The truck is a 94. We just tried the moving the slave cylinder. The fluid didn't go down much on the reservoir. The master cylinder was good before all of this happened. (throwout bearing went bad)
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 2,304
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From: boonville ny
I bled mine all by myself. Make sure your taking that rubber plug out of the reservoir. I didnt realize it was there and filled the plug lol. And pumped it for 2 days without figuring it out. After i filled it once and pumped it quite a few times i had pedal. I was told its a self bleeding system
More Turbo
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 532
Likes: 1
From: Las Vegas
If memory serves me right, according to the Ford service manual, depress the clutch pedal 10 times in rapid succession. After the last pump of the pedal, release the pedal and immediately open the bleeder port, I would place a tube over the bleeder nipple with the other end in a catch bottle, there should be a rush of air and fluid. Keep doing this until only fluid comes out of the port. I did it this way working alone and it worked great. As Fordka cautioned, keep the reservoir full and be sure to remove the rubber plug when refilling the reservoir. This procedures is for the clutch system that utilizes the internal concentric slave set up.
New User
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 6
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From: Wyoming
Like David said, those things are massive nightmares. I had the same problem on a 95 Explorer. Slave cylinder went out on it, and I got it replaced. I bled it with a buddy. I had to rapidly depress the clutch ALL THE WAY ten times like Ed Bamba described. Only thing I did different was on the tenth pump, I held the clutch while my friend opened the port. We did this for a few hours (trust me, it had run COMPLETELY dry on us), slowly releasing the air buildup. Holding on the tenth pump seemed to compress air, shooting out more at once than by letting off. But this was our worst case scenario. Just make sure you don't let the reservoir run low while you pump the fluid back in. Last thing you wanna do is be almost done with bleeding it and all of sudden you forgot to check it and now you got more air in the lines.
Oh yeah, don't be surprised if you get clutch leg if you're the one doing the pumping.
Oh yeah, don't be surprised if you get clutch leg if you're the one doing the pumping.
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New User
Joined: Nov 2013
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If you do everything right and keep adding brake fluid to the tiny reservoir every couple of pumps, you might have a defective slave.
We just picked up master & slave from Checker (okay O'Reilly) and bled our brains out until we exchanged the slave after more reading on the forums. What I remember reading is that the master creates the pressure and the slave maintains it. So if you keep adding brake fluid but no clutch yet, and you went aftermarket $40 parts like we did, it could be a bad part.
We just picked up master & slave from Checker (okay O'Reilly) and bled our brains out until we exchanged the slave after more reading on the forums. What I remember reading is that the master creates the pressure and the slave maintains it. So if you keep adding brake fluid but no clutch yet, and you went aftermarket $40 parts like we did, it could be a bad part.
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Junior User
Joined: Sep 2012
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From: Orange Park, Florida
Thanks
Thanks everyone for all the advice. It did help. This is what I did.
I took the line off the slave cylinder. I then bleed that. I plugged it back in and then I did the pry bar thing. I then had peddle to work with. I had my wife working inside the truck while I bleed the slave cylinder.
Once I removed the hose from the slave cylinder and bleed it. Everything went smooth and quick. The line has a spring loaded stopper on the end and I couldn't get the system bleed until we had bleed the line.
Happy camper today.
I took the line off the slave cylinder. I then bleed that. I plugged it back in and then I did the pry bar thing. I then had peddle to work with. I had my wife working inside the truck while I bleed the slave cylinder.
Once I removed the hose from the slave cylinder and bleed it. Everything went smooth and quick. The line has a spring loaded stopper on the end and I couldn't get the system bleed until we had bleed the line.
Happy camper today.
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