HELP please..slave cylinder bleed

[saint60]

so i just got done replacing the clutch in my little brothers cruiser. when i took off the slave i took the adjustment bolt all the way out and the plunger and fluid came out. when i put it in again i bled it, but i think there is still air in the line somewhere because it won't push the clutch fork unless i pump it a few times. i did a search and it said to gravity bleed it and then pump the clutch a few times and while the clutch is pressed to the floor to reinstall the bleeder valve. i did all that, but i still have to pump it to get it to work. what do i need to do.
oh yeah-when i bled it i took the whole bleeder valve out, would that have something to do with it? is the plunger possibly in backward? i don't know.

 

[fsusteve]

You mean you took the bleeder out when you gravity bled it and then reinstalled to finish up the bleeding?

 

[saint60]

i took the whole thing out and then just put it back in while the clutch was compressed. did that allow air to get into it?

 

[fsusteve]

First off nice Chevy, I like them.

Second, why? Just loosen it a little AFTER the pedal is pressed, then tighten BEFORE the pedal is released. Loosen means put yer wrench on it and just crack it loose. You're looking for a solid stream of fluid with no sputtering.

Good luck, keep us updated.

 

[saint60]

yeah-after i posted last night i realized that taking the whole thing off wasn't necessary, so i did just loosen it up and bled it again but to no avail. can that plunger inside of the slave be installed backward? i'm just throwing out ideas. when i bled it i had my wife pump three steady streams of fluid out and it still isn't bled. i just took it down to go get an exhaust job done on it and i had to pump the clutch to get it to work. however, if i kept my foot on the pedal after putting it in gear so i it couldn't release all the way the pressure stayed in it. should i maybe adjust my clutch pedal? the thing is it was working fine the other day. ahhh! thanks for the input.
about the chevy-i just got it last week in phoenix. it's an awesome truck.

 

[fsusteve]

You can adjust the threaded rod coming off the slave per the manual. IIRC, basically it should have just a little play in it when you tighten it down.

 

[saint60]

so do i need a new slave or what? it is still acting like there is air in the slave. i took it off and had my little bro hold it up while i pumped the clutch. the fluid pushed the plunger out and then i pumped it a few more times. while i held the pedal down he put the plunger back in. then we re-installed the slave, loosened the bleeder valve, bled it, and shut it. it still acts like there is air inside. the wierd thing is that before the clutch job (before i took the slave apart) it worked fine. can taking it apart screw it up? anyway-please help if you can.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

So how did you end up fixing that clutch problem?

Mine is doing the same thing....... and I have the EXACT same set up you do. 350/ranger. I just cant get it to want to push the fork more than 1/4 of an inch. Mine fell apart in my hands during the great war of the 350 swap and I'm wondering if when I put it back together (along with the brand new lines), I just got tons of air all over the place in the system. I should probably just be patient and keep bleeding the system like the FSM says until the air bubbles stop but the funny thing is... ON one pedal push I get air bubbles and on the next I don't. I just don't get it.

Help please anyone! I'm SOOOO close to getting this done!
Stressed,
Nick

 

[TheGr8Doughboy]

Depending on what Chevy clutch you use there can be an assortment of problems. I just finished up putting an '86 chevy hydrolic clutch in my cruiser because the HD chevy pressure plate I bought was too heavy for the stock, or at least that's how I felt.

You do need ALL of the travel that you can get out of the stock slave cylinder make sure that the cylinder is almost completely compressed when the TO bearing is just off the pressure plate (I've heard you want 1/8" or so). I ran an extra spring in line with the slave cylinder to assure that it returned and kept the TO back.

Chris

 

[saint60]

this wasn't on my cruiser. it was on my little bro's stock 60. we ended up leaving the tension spring off the slave and it worked fine. he has driven it for about a year now without any probs so i think it's fine. good luck with yours.