Bleedin' clutch - Help!

[PVN]

I went to take my Mark 1 Tasmin 280i FHC out for a run yesterday and found that the clutch pedal was floppy and I could not engage any gear. On inspection I found the clutch fluid reservoir was empty. I have now filled it but still have no pressure on the clutch pedal. I'm guessing (hoping) that it is just an airlock in the system. Does anyone know how to bleed the master and slave cylinders on this model?

All help gratefully received.

[Colin RedGriff]

Don't know if there are any wedge peculiarities but usually it's similar to bleeding brakes but simpler.

Get yourself one of those easi-bleed kits that has a non return valve in the end (£5). Put the tube on the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder and dangle into a jar or something. Loosen the nipple off then press the clutch to the floor. Repeat a few times but keep an eye on the clutch master fluid level and top up as necessary. Then tighten up the bleed nipple and you should be good to go.

However if you've lost all your fluid once I would say you are likely to loose it again and you really need to find the leak. It's probably the seals in either or both cylinders. If one has gone then it is likely the other will go soon too so you might as well fix them both. Either replace them with new cylinders or replace the seals in your existing ones with a seal kit.

[Wedg1e]

If it's a very early Tasmin it'll have the concentric slave cylinder which is mounted INSIDE the bellhousing. I think there was a remote bleed nipple but it's been a while since I worked on one. I vaguely recall that the design of the seals meant they could weep a tad if left in one position - it was more akin to a hydraulic ram design than a clutch cylinder!

[rev-erend]

Dont forget to put 1/2 inch of brade fluid in the bottle you are bleeding into first.

[PVN]

Thanks everyone. Mine is a very early one - first registered May 1980 - so I suspect I have the clutch slave cylinder inside the bell housing. I was hoping that there must be some way of bleeding the clutch without separating engine and gearbox! I will investigate Wedgie's suggestion of a remote bleed nipple just as soon as I figure out how to get the car out of the garage!!

Thanks again.

[Comadis]

and you think the empty fluid reservoire is a result from evaporation?

brake fluid doesnt eveporate...ergo: there is a leak. if you find some wet areas in your footwhell around pedalbox its the master cylinder....but murphy´s law says its the slave cylinder!!

if its like that i wouldnt recommend repairing it. convert it to an external slave cylinder or a cable clutch.

Edited by Comadis on Friday 29th January 21:44

[Wedg1e]

Comadis said:

if you find some wet areas in your footwhell around pedalbox its the master cylinder....but murphy´s law says its the slave cylinder!!

To be fair, on the two occasions I've had leaks on the 390, it's been the master cyl every time. The car has thick soundproofing on the firewall so when the fluid leaked it ran down behind that and didn't show up on the carpet... but on an early car the brown corduroy carpet was glued directly to the floor so you'd see a leak easily.

[Hippy]

My FHC is an early one as well , chassis number FH5064F1 the last one in fact fitted with that broadspeed clutch set up.

There is a remote bleed nipple which is outside the bell housing.
I still think its a stupid idea to have the slave inside the bell housing, what were they thinking

I would like to convert mine to cable one day

Edited by Hippy on Saturday 30th January 12:50

[adam quantrill]

Funny enough mine has just leaked away (or evaporated ;^) too, I wonder if it's the time of year? Perhaps seals aren't as good when cold.

No sign of any fluid on the pushrod on the master, just bled and refilled it all so fingers crossed.

[Wedg1e]

Hippy said:

My FHC is an early one as well , chassis number FH5064F1 the last one in fact fitted with that broadspeed clutch set up.

There is a remote bleed nipple which is outside the bell housing.
I still think its a stupid idea to have the slave inside the bell housing, what were they thinking

I would like to convert mine to cable one day

Edited by Hippy on Saturday 30th January 12:50

Engineering-wise it's a good idea, no effort/time/weight wasted in moving rods etc. and the actual cylinder was well-engineered as I recall. Think the idea was also used by SAAB for quite a while.
Chassis 64 rings a bell, think I've spoken to a previous owner. I used to keep a list of who had which car but there was a sudden flurry of cars changing hands and it all went wonky.