Clutch hydraulic mystery

[94Blackbird]

Ok so a few weeks ago my clutch pedal on my truck went soft. I replaced the hydraulics, bled it properly (i.e. on the bench, watched until there were no air bubbles etc.), pedals still soft. Bled it 3 more times both on and off the truck, still have intermittant problems with it. Took the hydraulics completely back down today, bled with brand new brake fluid, still nothing. I'm at my wits end with this thing, I have no clue why it won't f@#*&%^ bleed properly.

While I doubt it's an actual clutch problem, I'm going to borrow a video borescope tomorrow to look inside my bellhousing and see what the throwout bearing and pressure plate looks like, but I doubt that the issue is there as the truck did act right some of the time today.

I"m about ready to buy a pre bled unit and be done with it. But as I said before I have no clue why it won't bleed properly, I did this once before with no issues. Just seeing if you guys have any other ideas before I plunk down another 160 bucks for the pre bled unit

[popo8]

I wish I could help... Im clueless tho.

LTXtech.com is my DRUG!

[popo8]

No one at ur shop have any specialization in this stuff?

LTXtech.com is my DRUG!

[94Blackbird]

No one at ur shop have any specialization in this stuff?

LTXtech.com is my DRUG!

The kind of cars we work on at the shop are either automatics or air shifted with a direct link mechanical clutch. But the point is moot, I broke down and ordered the pre-bled unit last night after it still wouldn't bleed out correctly.

[SS RRR]

Soft pedal means there's air in the system somewhere.

[popo8]

can u get a vac bleeder on it to help simplify the process?

LTXtech.com is my DRUG!

[firebird_1995]

Have you inspected the pressure plate yet? May have some fingers broke.

[94Blackbird]

Soft pedal means there's air in the system somewhere.


If you would have read the post, that is not what I am asking. I know that there is air in the system somewhere still. What I was asking is if anyone had any secret squirrel tricks they use when bleeding a hydraulic clutch. I've done this before with no issues returning to normal operation, which is why I am baffled now as to why after a total of 5 bleed attempts using various different methods, it still hasn't bled properly. When I did this replacement 2 yrs ago, it bled fine after the second bench bleeding session.

[94Blackbird]

Have you inspected the pressure plate yet? May have some fingers broke.

I haven't had the chance yet, been swamped. I still have my doubts about it being an actual issue inside the bellhousing as the disengagement problem is intermittent and it comes and goes. Even when the clutch is acting right, the pedal still doesn't feel right and the disengagement point is far, far too low. Before I started having this issue again the clutch would be fully disengaged by the time it was 3/4 of the way to the floor with a good, firm pedal. Now, when it does disengage, there is no pedal until about 1/3 of the way through the pedal travel and I basically have to try to put my foot through the floor to get it to disengage, when it does disengage.

Eitherway I have a set of known good hydraulics on the way. At this point I wouldn't be suprised if the problem is the line between the cylinders ( truck has over 300k on the ticker and the hydraulics have already been replaced once since I've had the truck).