Hydraulic Clutch soft after bleeding

[Duhwhat]

To the best of my ability I have bleed the clutch till there is no air and I only have pedal on the bottom third and it is relatively soft. It goes in the forward gears "OK", but reverse has a good grind.

I replaced everything in the clutch area when I had it down. I also replaced the clutch hydraulic line with brake line.

Is there anything to be done other than get the air out of the line? My chiltons says something about removing the push rod and depressing the plunger with a wooden dowel.

What would happen if you put the clutch disk in backward?

 

[Casuall454]

Clutch plate in backwards..... will never release.

I speak from experience on this one, I had to drop the gearbox, and there it was..... " this side toward engine" after I flipped the clutch plate, it released fine.

As yours is partially releasing, it is possible that you could still have any air in the line ?

 

[Duhwhat]

Clutch plate in backwards..... will never release.

I speak from experience on this one, I had to drop the gearbox, and there it was..... " this side toward engine" after I flipped the clutch plate, it released fine.

As yours is partially releasing, it is possible that you could still have any air in the line ?

Well, that eliminates the clutch plate thankfully.

I have bleed it repeatedly and believe it to be air free. The only thing else I can think to do is go buy a new master cylinder.

Everything between the tanny and the engine is new or refurbished.

Every step seems to bring new problems

It's really gonna be fine if I ever get finished

 

[LongHorn]

Well, that eliminates the clutch plate thankfully.

I have bleed it repeatedly and believe it to be air free. The only thing else I can think to do is go buy a new master cylinder.

Everything between the tanny and the engine is new or refurbished.

Every step seems to bring new problems

It's really gonna be fine if I ever get finished

As the old saying goes JEEP:Just Empty Every Pocket
Old Jeeps really are a labor of love.

 

[Duhwhat]

I ordered a rebuild kit for the clutch master cylinder and hope that will do the trick.

One tip I read said that the Clutch Master Cylinder Hose should not at any point be higher than the master cylinder reservoir . Since I had to make a master cylinder hose out of brake line, mine was a little higher at the cylinder. I tried to bend it a little to lower it, and it seemed to give me a little more pedal. Maybe just my imagination.

I can't find a Clutch Master Cylinder Hose for a 86 2.5l anywhere. That really blows.

Now that I have temp, I am going to get a muffin this weekend. Should be on the road soon.

My son-in-law suggested and old Ford method of always going from 1st to reverse to eliminate the grinding and it really helps that also. (I only get a problem in reverse with a little grind action) All other gears shift fine.

 

[yleefox]

When I first read your posting, I immediately thought the problem is air in the line. Air of course compresses while Hyd Fluid does not. If it were me, I'd take another look at that possibility. It can be a bear sometimes to get the air out of those master cylinders, hence the use the the wooden dowel to "pump" the master cylinder on the bench.

Good luck with it.

Y

 

[Duhwhat]

When I first read your posting, I immediately thought the problem is air in the line. Air of course compresses while Hyd Fluid does not. If it were me, I'd take another look at that possibility. It can be a bear sometimes to get the air out of those master cylinders, hence the use the the wooden dowel to "pump" the master cylinder on the bench.

Good luck with it.

Y

Thanks, I am not sure if I have a clear picture of how to do the bench thing, but that is probably something I need to do. When I disassembled the jeep, I let the master cylinder go dry and then I blew it out with compressed air.

Could I possibly bench bleed it without removing the cylinder? Like through the firewall? Maybe remove the plunger rod from the pedal and then the plunger from the cylinder then press it in with a dowel?

I guess removing the cylinder wouldn't be a big deal, maybe not as much as what I just described.

I guess I can wait till the rebuild kit comes in and do it all at once.

 

[yleefox]

If I understood you correctly, you had removed the MC and used compressed air to blow it out, right? Do you suppose that the compressed air damaged a seal within the MC?

As far as the bench bleeding the MC, the wood dowel process, as I understand it, reduces the effort that it will take with your leg and foot pumping and bleeding the old fashion way. Some of these MC are a bear to bleed.

If you're going to rebuild it anyway, I guess if it were me I'd do the rebuild before I went to the trouble of bleeding the system again.

Good luck with it

Y