Clutch slave cylinder replacement.... what am I doing wrong?

Here I thought I was going to do something on my Miata myself, alone, properly, for the first time. :rolleyes:

I finally picked up my new slave cylinder today and gathered all my tools together. Removed the front passenger wheel, pulled out the old cylinder, and installed the new one (then removed it again so I could avoid crossthreading the hydraulic line ;)).

Then I set up my catch can with some fluid in it, cleaned out the reservoir, ran some tubing to the can, and start pumping and filling as stated on the ::Batman:: guide.

Pedal firmed up, the fluid was running clear (it was HORRIBLE at first), so I tightened it down, reinstalled everything, and started 'er up.

I put it in reverse to back down the driveway, and slowwwwly released the clutch...

And it caught at slightly less than fully depressed, and quickly.

I drove down the street anyway, and at every shift the clutch would engage harshly after barely letting it out, then the pedal would have little firmness until depressed halfway or more.

I'm assuming this has something to do with the bleeding, since I kind of suck at that.

Any ideas?

It's a 1992 BTW.

Yeah,

Bleed it right.

Does it work better if you pump it? If so, bleed it some more.

(You didn't let the master cylinder run dry did you? EEEK!)

Oh, and if you want to do it by yourself, get a speedbleeder!

http://images.loqu.com/photos/252/12...g-it-wrong.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

Yeah,

Bleed it right.

Does it work better if you pump it? If so, bleed it some more.

(You didn't let the master cylinder run dry did you? EEEK!)

Oh, and if you want to do it by yourself, get a speedbleeder!

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Sorta works better when I pump it. When I leave it on the floor for a bit you can feel it lose pressure too.

What symptoms would the master cylinder being dry give?

You can't bleed it and get the air out. ;)

Those you'll have to bench bleed and it's ugly.

Do yourself a favor and buy speedbleeders for your car. You'll need 5 if you want to include the clutch slave.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

You can't bleed it and get the air out. ;)

Those you'll have to bench bleed and it's ugly.

Do yourself a favor and buy speedbleeders for your car. You'll need 5 if you want to include the clutch slave.

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I did have a speedbleeder, but naturally it has disappeared :rolleyes:

I'll probably end up just waiting for the next tech day to avoid messing something up. Nothing ever seems to go right when I'm working on the car :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

You can't bleed it and get the air out. ;)

Those you'll have to bench bleed and it's ugly.

Do yourself a favor and buy speedbleeders for your car. You'll need 5 if you want to include the clutch slave.

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What is this procedure? I never got all the bubbles out of my line after bleeding through a whole bottle of fluid on a few occasions, just a steady stream of foam size bubbles. And a scratch on downshifting from 4th to 3rd unless I baby it. I thought my master cylinder was bad, but now that I think about it the guy I had topping it off the first bleed is not too bright, I bet he let it run dry a couple times...

Kept forgetting to get somebody over to help out, but today my brother came by and I attempted the bleeding once again using his assistance.

It worked! Hurray for me, I finally did something "deep" (for me) on my car and didn't completely @%^$ it up :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MadMonkey

Hurray for me, I finally did something "deep" (for me) on my car and didn't completely @%^$ it up :D

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You're on a roll. Give sex a try!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jrj512

You're on a roll. Give sex a try!

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Don't forget to get someone to outline the important parts with chalk. :rolleyes:

Well, I spoke too soon (as usual). Now I'm stranded at work with a clutch pedal that offers no resistance. I couldn't even get in the front gate until a coworker helped push me in. It worked fine for about 2 miles then started to have trouble disengaging. I don't understand!!

Someone walk me through the bleeding process for when you have two people. I'm aggravated now :(

I am not sure you find any leak on the garage floor. Anyway, do a quick check of the entire clutch line, especially that rubber hose close the firewall. When the rubber hose of mine failed, I didn't find any fluid of the floor. It was leaking from rubber/metal connector.