clutch bleed question

[The Radium King]

hi all. just bled my brakes and clutch (motive power bleeder at 25 psi, open bleed valves 1/4 turn, run until no bubbles, torque to 7.5'#). now my clutch will not return when depressed. i'd read in a tutorial (boxster wiki) that this may happen, and to drive about gently to get it to start returning; make sense? also note that, when bleeding, i did not depress the clutch pedal prior as per bentley et al; i was under the impression that this was just to ensure that the master cylinder was completely evacuated (not required in my case) and should not be related to this issue ...

[JFP in PA]

First, do not pressurize the motive unit beyond 15 PSIG; higher pressure is not required, but can lead to problems. Second, the clutch should be held to the floor while bleeding it, then manually pull the pedal up; you should be fine at that point.

[WhipE350]

Yes I've heard about this. Did you do an extensive search on the forum. When I did mine I had the pedal pushed in all the way and I had heard about folks having the same problem as you...but I pull it back out and pushed a couple of times and it worked like a charm. I know bleeding the clutch is a real pain...have to have monkey arms...maybe you should do it again with the pedal in. Sorry can be anymore help.

[Lobo1186]

Power bleeder eh? crazy fandangled technology! took me and a buddy a long time to get the whole system bled on my car!

but yes u have to have it depressed to ensure the old fluid going to the clutch gets drained. but JFP already took care of letting u know all the particulars...

[The Radium King]

power bleeders are up there with sliced bread!

anyway, i used 25 psi as per wayne at pelican, but i'll re-bleed with the clutch in and at 15 psi and see how it goes (ugh, more motul, more $$$). i did do a search here and elsewhere, but not much for clutch bleeding that i could find. tried pushing in and pulling up manually on the pedal with the car running but nada (didn't actually drive it as it's still on stands with the axles out - another sob story).

thanks for the help.

[Mark_T]

When I bled my clutch I wedged the pedal down with a 2x4 jammed up beside the seat. At first the pedal did not want to come back up on its own after bleeding. I worked it back and forth manually a few times but the was still some freeplay at the top. A second bleeding completely fixed it, so you may still have a bit of air in there.

I have no idea how people do this job without a power bleeder!

[SeanZ4]

I used a 2x4 also. I used a power bleeder set at 20psi. Had no problems. I was also trying to find/get rid of a squeeeeking noise coming from the clutch slave cylinder. Not a fun job. Still squeaks. Oh well..

sean

[Lil bastard]

Power Bleeder is the recommended method.

Using the pump-the-pedal method on an older car can actually cause the seals to blow on the master, caliper or slave.

I also wouldn't go over 20 PSI to avoid leaks from the grommets at the MC.

Cheers!

[san rensho]

Clutches can be hard to bleed. If all else fails, try reverse bleeding. Inject fluid under pressure at the bleed valve. Be sure to remove fluid from the reservoir first so it doesn't overflow.