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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Bleeding 1500 clutch (again)

Hello,

I've had a good look on the archives and can see that this is a known problem with the 1500. It seems that people say there is a place for air to get trapped in the master cylinder. People say that they have removed the master and suspended it in the air to allow the air bubble to come out... other people have said that they jack up the rear of the car to create the same effect.

I tried the rear jacking method - with a gunson EZbleed - and it didn't work.

Has anyone got any good suggestions for bleeding the clutch, or is it better to just use it (if you can) and rebleed it every other day hoping that the air bubble moves to the end of the slave?

C L Carter

Infact - I think jacking up the back of the car just makes the problem worse... surely you need to jack up the front of the car?
C L Carter

I can't say I have had this problem - just a thought - but what about pumping the clutch at the same time as having the easi bleed connected and pressurised? - you will get through fluid quickly - probably take two to be safe of either running out of fluid or spilling out of the jar...

John Barber

Hi CL,

Had the same thing last year, stick with the ezi bleed thingy that runs off a tyre. I found the full tyre pressure worked well as it chucks loads of fluid thru the pipes and takes the bubble with it. Its more pressure than the instructions say but I was getting desperate. I used a full bottle at the MC end and made sure the pipe below was submerged also to stop anything being drawn back up. Seems like a waste of fluid but it did it in the end. One other thought, is the system really airtight? I thought my MC was OK with a new seal set but it was causing the problem, in the I put a new one on. It bled easily after that.

Cheers,

Richard
r parker

A common mistake is get the pipe and the bleed nipple the wrong way round. Make sure you have the bleed nipple in the top hole of the slave cyl, if the hose is in that hole the air gets trapped, as it rises!


Just a thought.
SR Smith 1

Hey Christian,

It is the slave that the air gets trapped in, not the master.
Make sure that the bleed nipple is on the top of the slave, not the bottom.
Jacking up the rear of the car lifts the bleed further, but there is still scope to get a bubble in there.
I had good success removing the slave, cracking the bleed nipple, and pushing the piston in, evacuating the cylinder, then bleed as normal (or bleed with the piston clamped back.
I had a real battle with mine, and this did the trick, had a nice firm pedal since.

-- Josh
Josh L

Ah - i've read in the archive that the master gets air trapped in it? I can't see how the slave would get air trapped in it - its the lowest point in the system.

the slave cylinder is currently rotated so that pipe and the bleed nipple are virtually horizontal (albeit the bleed nipple is ever so slightly higher)

I haven't got a working battery at the moment but its declutching so I should be able to drive it at least to my girlfriends house, where there is a steep steep driveway, perfect for bleeding!

C L Carter

This thread was discussed between 02/04/2012 and 03/04/2012

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.