Quick question. I'm gonna change my brake fluid this month top some fresh Ate Dot4 fluid.
But do I need to do anything besides the obvious when bleeding thee brakes? Just the good old 2 man operation using a clear hose and pressing the pedal?
And my calipers have two bleed valves, do I need to bleed both on each caliper or just one of them?
Do yourself a favor and get a Motive power bleeder and make it a one man job.
Yes you need to bleed both valves on each caliper.
Noted on the bleeder. It would make my life a lot easier.
I'll just bleed both valves the manual way for now then.
never ever ever pump the brakes to bleed them. it creates micro bubbles, and especially with these dual valve calipers, you will never get the air out.
buy a motive. it's a lot easier than the "push - hold at the bottom - release" method
as with any car, start at the wheel farthest from the master cylinder (and on this car the outside valve of each first). then move wheel by wheel toward the master cylinder.
then bleed the clutch, as it shares the same reservoir.
Where do I bleed the clutch?
So the push and hold method doesn't work?
the "push gradually - open valve - HOLD AT THE BOTTOM - close valve - release" method can work, but it takes a LONG time. you have to basically do the whole thing twice too. with a motive, the entire job takes less than 10 minutes.
the clutch bleed screw is located on the slave cylinder, under the car, bolted to the bell housing
That's the method I was planning on using, so I'll do that and buy a method bleeder for the next time.
The procedure is the same for bleeding the clutch? (Push the clutch, open, hold, close, release)
Do you have any pictures of the slave cylinder on the car? I'm trying to search for that but as of now I'm not finding anything.
procedure the same. do the clutch with the nose higher than the tail, and make sure you don't let the little corner of the reservoir in front of the divider go dry or you will be starting all over. you only get 3 or 4 pushes out of it before you have to fill it up again.
do NOT use silicone fluid!!!
no pics here. you'll see it though when you get under there. kind of a pain to get to, and really hard to get a hose on.
I have Dot 4 SL.6 fluid from ATE so it should't have silicone in it.(That's only in Dot 5, isn't it?)
A buddy of mine is a mechanic at a VAG dealership. I might get him to lend me a hand.
[quote name='parptarf' timestamp='1408553395' post='161383']
A buddy of mine is a mechanic at a VAG dealership. I might get him to lend me a hand.
[/quote]
That sounds kind of dirty...heh, heh!
We call them brothels, but I was not aware they had mechanics on staff. Probably a "tool" joke in there somewhere.
Some advice: remove the startermotor for better access to the bleeding screw. You also may want to put some grease on the thread, otherwise air may get past it and keep you busy for a loooong time.
As the Motive is concerned:
http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/dreed/cam...h/bleeder/
Nice alternative. Costs you close to nothing and works like a charm (build one myself, and if I can do it... :-) )
+1 on the Motive Bleeder. It is one of the best tool purchases I've ever made. Can't think of another tool that is as much of a time saver. It turns a real pain in the a** job into a walk in the park. Can't imagine going back to bleeding brakes the old way.
ok, so I changed the brake pads and brake lines (now SS) and the brake fluid reservoir dropped below the blue hose for the clutch fluid when i drained out the old brake lines. I just finished bleeding the brakes (with a Motive, but couldn't get all the air out of the line so had someone pump the brakes as well). Will test drive shortly and then bleed again.. But, with the brake reservoir dropping so low should I bleed the clutch as well? It was working fine before.
And it does look like the starter motor has to be removed to do this, to get to the bleeder valve. How hard is removing the starter motor, I see two bolts holding it on. What am I getting into when I remove the starter? I presume some type of nasty fluid will leak out? I'll be crawling under the car for this so not a lot of room or leverage.
Nothing special about removing the starter, Bob. I like to disconnect the battery before I take out the bolts, but that's just my paranoia and reluctance to be around sparking wires in a confined space at work. The battery cables and the trigger wire to the solenoid can be fragile and baked in many of these cars, so watch for cracked/broken/missing insulation. Lube the starter shaft and the end bushing while you have it out.
See you in Mendocino!
Matt
Test drove the car, brakes and clutch feel fine, no sponginess. Rather than risk dropping the starter motor on my face, not that anyone could tell, I made an appointment Monday with a local shop to bleed the clutch and re-check the brake bleed. As hot as it is going to be next week driving through Caii, will have them check the A/C Freon too. B)
Definitely want to be careful not to let your starter fluid leak out, Bob...
;0)
Once you get the starter out it's easy to reach the bleeder screw for the clutch, though
Still, unless you have replaced those two wiring loom's, battery to starter and starter to alternator, they could be crispy (my starter to alternator cable was horrendous, no insulation left on the inner-wire whatsoever just crackely crumbles)
Since your clutch seems to be fine it's all probably better left alone to avoid more troubles than you're ready to deal with right now .
So what are the symptoms of a clutch that needs to be bleed? I'd hate to start out to Mendocino and have a problem en route. I understand the wisdom of not messing with the starter cables but I'd hate to have a clutch problem.