The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop slave cylinder bleeder screw

Hi Everyone,
Recently I replaced the original slave cylinder with a brand new one, and since it has ben replaced I can't use a hand vacumm pump on it to bleed the clutch line. My question is, could the bleeder screw on the SC be a one way valve so no air can get in the line when bleeding the line?
TIA,
David

No. There are one-way bleeder screws with internal check valves, but they work in the other direction. You should be able to suck fluid out through them with the vacuum pump with no problem. They're made to keep air from going back into the cylinder, not to keep it from coming out. You would be *very* unlikely to get one of these in a replacement cylinder as they are quite expensive compared to a stock bleeder screw.

They don't work particularly well, IMO, because when they're loose enough to let fluid out of the hole they're loose enough to let air back in around the threads, but that's another issue. The main thing I don't like about them is that they have a relatively large inner diameter compared to a stock bleeder, to accommodate the check valve. This means that they have a relatively thin wall and are therefore much more fragile than a stock bleeder, and will break much easier in a few years when it's time to try to use them again.

Can you bleed the cylinder with pressure from the master, and get fluid out of the bleeder that way? If not, I'd suspect something unusual like a bleeder screw with incompletely drilled holes.

If you can pump fluid through the bleeder with the master, I don't know what to say. Could be a piece of debris from the manufacturing process that is blocking the port, or something of that nature. Then it would be time to pull the slave and take it apart looking for something wrong. They are very simple cylinders, and any problem should be immediately apparent.

Joe

Hi Joe,
I can bleed it by pumping the clutch pedal. The peddle is pretty soft, it's just enough to barely disengauge the clutch, but as soon as I pul the lid off of the new mastercylinder, it gets more stiff. :confused: There's also about a 6 inch piece of rubber that looks oil soaked, and starting to disenergrate(sp) It might ieven be clogged causing it to shut off most of the fluid going trough maybe? :confused:
TIA,
David