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[ranger_blackhat]

Need more help.  as you can tell, had too much time on my hands this weekend having not been home for past several weeks.
When I had the leak in the rear banjo bolt washer, I lost the hydraulics to the clutch slave cylinder as i dd not pat attention to the fluid level in the shared master.  got the brakes sorted out and new parts installed but when I went to bleed the slave, noticed that it had been installed 180 degrees from correct and the bleed nipple was on the down side and not the top.  I turned it 180 degrees and successfully bled it but decided to install it correctly facing.  I tried to get the slave hose off to turn the slave and re-tighten but could not for the life of me figure out ho to get a tool in there.  Mind you now, I am on jackstands and on my back.  as I am sure you all already know, to re-install it at 180 degrees caused the hose to twist in a strange but doable way -- not as it is supposed to be.  clutch was bled and worked fine and I finally got to drive the little guy a bit more.  came back the next day and there was no clutch again and surprised that there was no puddle either.

huh>?>?

[charley fitch]

I recall that just lately there was a thread about bleeding the clutch, but I was unable to find it.  A friend recently had the same problem that you are having now. What we learned is that instead of doing the pump the pedal and opening and closing the bleed screw it works better if you just pump the pedal repeatedly until you get a good pedal.  Then once you get a reasonable pedal pressure you need to release the pedal very fast as in letting your foot slip off of the pedal while the pedal is pushed  to the bottom.  You may need to do this a few times to get the pedal to normal pressure.  Apparently by doing this method you do not have to use the bleed screw.
Good luck,
Charley 

[TomMull]

Charlie, That's one (of many, I suppose) that I'd never heard of. Certainly worth a try. However, if ranger_blackhat is getting a good clutch one day and no clutch the next, I'd be looking hard for a leak. Look closely at the clutch master too.
Tom

[charley fitch]

Yes, I would agree that my experience tells me what you believe.  But after going through a problem clutch with a friend on a long trip, our remedy was finally to "bleed" the clutch in the manner I wrote about.  So we had 1,000 miles of problems and then 2,000 miles of NO problems with the clutch. Adn it is still working great today.
Charley 

[ranger_blackhat]

charlie/tom

thanks for the discussion and I have more things to try and look for.  Specifically I will look at the master and see if there is a leak at the source.  I checked and did not notice any leakage on the floor BUT, did notice that when I was bleeding the slave, I noticed that there were drips coming from the rubber thing that the rod goes through.  I guess this may mean that I either need a slave rebuild kit or an entire new slave.  Could those drips be enough to cause this?

Marc

[charley fitch]

If you are getting drops from the slave cylinder, then you may be allowing air to enter the system from the bottom ( drops out and air in).  This then means that it will go UP into the system and produce the problem you describe.  Usually a kit will cure the problem.  However one needs to check the bore of the slave cylinder and make sure it is smooth.  If it is rough then putting a new kit into the system will be a short term repair.  The rough bore will over time cut the new seal.  The bore can usually be honed or if you are like me and don't own a hone then I have used a 300 to 500 grit emery paper and gently smooth the bore.
Charley 

[ranger_blackhat]

Charlie, if I do the emery and get it back to smooth, will/should i still buy the kit for the rubber internals?  I suspect yes as the friction and possible internal burs or is it just the right thing to do?  I was also thinking of just gettin a new slavewhich as new internals as it is only ~$30 more and then I know I have the issue solved.  What do you think as I have no experience....Marc

[charley fitch]

You are better off with the whole new unit.  Keep the old one for a spare or parts.  Often times the old units are not really that bad.  In some cases they are superior to new stuff.  So at those times one is better off restoring an old one. But I would guess that the cost is worth the security to get a new one.
Charley 

[ranger_blackhat]

Charlie, thanks for the opinion and was leaning that way as well.  Will keep all informed as I make my way through the '54