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Bleeding a Clutch Slave

14K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  oujay 
#1 ·
Had a leaking clutch slave which had put the R53 off the road the last few weeks, due to weather and life commitments I finally had the time to install the new slave this weekend.
Some seem to be wary of doing their own clutch slave but with the right tools, its an easy one man job.
I have attached an old PDF instruction file I made a while back and have also included a few images from today.
The last time I bled a clutch I did it the old fashioned way with a second helper to pump the clutch pedal and monitor the brake fluid.
This time I used a one man power bleeder and had the job done in a fraction of the time. You may need to check and re-bleed the slave.
The slave requires to be compressed to remove any voids within the piston assembly before you can bleed it and its not difficult to make a home made compression tool.

Obvious safety issues are to have the vehicle secure on four jack stands and never rely on any for of jack alone.
Also be aware of any spilt brake fluid, it ruins your paint and if not cleaned up, is fatally toxic to any animals that ingest it and cats and dogs love the taste but will suffer a horrific death so dispose of any fluid responsibly and don't tip it down the drain.

Hopefully this demystifies the process.

P.S. when you pump the one man bleeder, 25 PSI is enough pressure (29 PSI / 2 BAR is the maximum before you damage the reservoir by over pressure).
 

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#3 ·
I did same job last summer and it was far easier than i was expecting, i thought it might be a ***** to do as i replaced master at same time.

Only thing i would add is, clutch worked fine after bleeding but felt pedal could be better so i cut a length of wood to correct length to fully depress clutch, left it over night, clutch pedal now feels spot on
 
#4 ·
I have the very same feeling about the pedal, will be rebleeding it this weekend with luck, could just be me used to driving the R50 but it does feel very light. I had the same issue when I installed a ew clutch a while back and the second old fashioned bleed, I pumped the pedal a lot more vigorously and obviously removed any chance of air in the system. Love the one man bleder but I have a sneaky feeling I may have a smattering of air somewhere in the system but it does drive without issues so again it could be me.
 
#5 ·
the wood holding the pedal down overnight lets any air trapped escape, but may need a bit longer. My pedal felt like had a bit to much free play but after leaving overnight all was well.

If people think the mini is bad they want to try bleeding twin caliper front bike brakes it can drive you mental
 
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