Clutch Bleed Gone Bad

[EBS]

‘94 Defender NAS 90 with R380. I don’t know when it was last done and the fluid was pretty nasty so I attempted to bleed the clutch hydraulics. I hooked up my motive powerbleed, pumped it up, and hopped under the car. First thing I noticed is that the slave cylinder seems to be in upside down as the bleed screw is below the hardline connection. Clutch was working fine so I figured that would only be an issue if air was introduced so I went ahead and opened the bleed screw on the slave.

Everything seemed to go normally. Disconnected everything and tested the pedal and it went straight to the floor and didn’t come back up. Bad.

I tried the trick of holding my hand over the master while my daughter pumped the pedal and I redid the bleed with the motive but no significant change after either. Maybe a little more pressure but still not functional.

Last, and this is where it goes extra bad, I noticed after the second attempt with the motive that there was fluid dripping down the clutch pedal. I think that means I might have blown a seal on the MC but I can’t see where it’s leaking from so I am seriously hoping I just spilled some fluid when I hooked up the motive the second time.

I will try the reverse bleed with the syringe (third time’s a charm) but if that doesn’t work am I looking at replacing master (and slave and lines because why not)? Anyone seen this before with a power bleed?

 

[RDavisinVA]

Don't think you can use a power bleeder.
Looks like it is time to convert:

https://www.seriesdefender.com/mechanical/clutch-master-cylinder.html

You'll want to install a cast iron slave cylinder as well.

 

[EBS]

I knew the dorman thing would come up, and that's my plan if I do need to replace.

I hadn't heard that using a motive bleeder was not appropriate. In fact I'm pretty sure I've seen a number of posts (probably on the other site) advocating it.

 

[Napalm00]

First step should be flipping over the slave so that it's in the correct orientation. Bleeder on the bottom is not going to work correctly. I found that the only way to properly bleed these things is to do it the old-fashioned way with a person inside the truck and somebody underneath getting brake fluid all over them.

Fill the reservoir, have the helper depress the clutch pedal and hold it, open bleeder screw then close it when the fluid slows down, do this until it's firm. really annoying trucks that sometimes I can't get bled correctly I leave the bleeder open with a hose on it and walk away for a couple hours and allow it to gravity bleed. I haven't had good luck using a motive so much so that I ended up selling it. I now use a standard brake vacuum bleeder on everything with the exception of the clutch master.

 

[RDavisinVA]

I knew the dorman thing would come up, and that's my plan if I do need to replace.

If the clutch petal fails to return, then there is no doubt the clutch master needs replacing.

I hadn't heard that using a motive bleeder was not appropriate. In fact I'm pretty sure I've seen a number of posts (probably on the other site) advocating it.

Suit yourself. Pressure bleeders often cause more problems than they solve in my humble experience.
Pumping up the clutch and holding it down with the correct length of 2X2 is all that is needed for a one person bleeding of the clutch hydraulics.
I have never seen reference to a pressure bleeder in the Land Rover factory workshop manual, although they have been around for more than 50 years.
Think you asked for advice and got it.

 

[EBS]

Thanks for the comments guys. My comment re: advice I've seen elsewhere was not meant as a criticism, more just an apparently poorly worded musing on why that might be the case. Either way, the clutch is working fine, and no leaks. I'm guessing I spilled some fluid. The pedal is a little soft, so I will try bleeding it again (w/o the motive, and after flipping over the slave) to see if I get any improvement there and keep a close eye out for leaks. Thanks again.

 

[EBS]

I finally had the chance to address this. I flipped over the slave and I bled the old master a few more times with no change back in August. It was still operating, but soft and biting very low, at end of the pedal stroke. I got the Dorman master from SDO. Install was a little tedious mostly because I changed all the hardlines, hose, and slave but Jason was very helpful in answering my rookie questions on the setup of the new master. Thanks again Jason. Pedal is firmer, bites much higher in the stroke, and I may be delusional here but it seems to shift more smoothly too.

I opted to remove the wing in order to install which gave me the chance to clean up the bulkhead of some surface rust where it looked like the clutch or brake master had leaked in the past and removed the paint. I also contemplated adding some DEI Floor and Tunnel Shield to help cut the heat a bit, but couldn't get comfortable that it wouldn't hold water.