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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - clutch bleeding problems

The nylon pipe from the master to the slave cylinder started to leak due to it abrading against the crankcase edge over the years. I replaced it and also re-furbed the slave cylinder at the same time. I then used the Eezibleed to bleed the system. The clutch seemed to be fine whilst the Eezibleed was still connected to the tyre however, when the hose was disconnected from the tyre and the normal cap replaced on the reservoir the clutch was U/S. I refitted the Eezibleed again from the tyre to the reservoir and the clutch worked once again. Can anyone please throw some light on this problem as I can hardly drive round with a spare tyre on the bonnet to make the clutch work!!!!!
g verity

I had this problem a while back and tried some of the things in the archives:
Some recommend pushing the slave piston fully in before bleeding, raising the rear of the car was also mentioned.
I tried all of these but no luck, I ended up pumping the clutch pedal whilst the Eezibleed was attached and under pressure. This seemed to shift the stubborn air lock and returned my clutch to normal.
HTH
Mark
Mark Whitmore

I take the slave cyl. off and tip it up when bleeding so air isn't trapped.

--jf
jf Falconer

Like you I used an eezi bleed which seemed to work fine ie no bubbles. But the pedal travel was awful and really soft. Tried again and still the same. In the end reverted to the tried and tested 'I'll go underneath and you pump the pedal' method with a friend helping. Had to do it twice before we got a hard enough pedal with enough travel. I was using synthetic with a new slave cylinder - if that makes any difference?

Jeremy
Jeremy 3

I had problems til I extended the bleed nipple with a length of copper tube, so that the nipple is now up where the heater valve should be. Makes bleeding the bleeding clutch a lot easier. I would agree with tipping it slightly too.

Neil
Neil Williams


Second what Mark says above. It's a real pain in the rear. What I ended up doing was:

1. raise the rear of the car on ramps.

2. Eezibleed it until most of the air's gone, then pump the pedal and more air will come out.

3. Repeat as necessary (a few times!!)

Hope that helps! It will drive you up the wall but can be done.

Cheers
Mark
MarkH

Hi Guys, thanks to you all for your very speedy replies and suggestions. In hindsight its obvious as to what was happening: there was a small amount of air still in the slave cylinder, enough to stop the clutch disengaging, however when the Eezibleed was attached to the tyre the extra 20psi must have just been enough to compress that air a little more allowing the clutch to work. Not having an inspection pit I had no alternative to jacking the front of the car up in order to get underneath it. In the end I adopted JK Falconer's suggestion and removed the slave cylinder from its mounting and tipped it up enough to allow the bleed nipple to be higher up. This solved the problem but even this wasn't easy. The nylon pipe is very rigid and trying to hold the slave unit with one hand, free the nipple with the other whilst not knocking off the bleed tube and squirting fluid all over my face was quite difficult. However, all is well that ends well,tks again, all I now need is some good weather!!!
g verity

Too many people stop the Eezi-Bleed as soon as they get that "clean, clear stream". Resist that temptation. You need to get out the bubbles that are in the arch of the line clear up by the master cylinder. That is one of the beauties of the Eezi-Bleed system; it has that lovely reservoir so you don't run out of fluid partway through the job. Take the opportunity to properly flush everything out and run a pint or so through it. It helps to have a small hose to attach to the bleeder so you can catch it all in a container.
David "bleedin full" Lieb
David Lieb

I'm fighting this too now, in efforts to fix clutch spinning issues. Traditional bleeding isn't getting it down (two person method). I think I'll make one of these
http://www.bmw-m.net/TechProc/bleeder.htm and remove the slave during the process.
J Van Dyke

I have found the method suggested by this Australian Sprite garage to work first time for me. My easibleed is still in its box !


http://www.spriteparts.com.au/bleeding.htm

Richard.
richard boobier

I did jack up the front of the car, pull the slave off just so I could angle it down (bleeder up) than had my son pump the pedal while I bleed from below. (my home-made pressurizer on the whole time).
No difference.
Finally I shoved a nut between the slave push rod and piston and it helped tremendously. I think I will try a bit deeper nut for a bit more effect, that or try adjusting the rod at the MC a bit, or both.

Took midget on first real run tonight. Took wife to meet friends for dinner. She was flawless, (Midget too) which shocked me since it's been touch and go and swear for a month.

Still get a little "grind" hitting 4th, maybe that's the way it's gunna be. I can start rebuilding my old gearbox for the future I guess.
J Van Dyke

This thread was discussed between 03/07/2008 and 06/07/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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