North American Turbocoupe Organization



Hydraulic clutch questions
86thunderchicken Offline
Member
#1
Anyone know the proper way to bleed the hydraulic clutch? I just swapped the 87 T5 into the car and I bled the slave cylinder but pedal still feels kind of soft. Mind you this stuff was siting for about 10 years so I’m planning on getting a new slave cylinder and possibly a master cylinder.
1986 TC 240,000 miles. Walbro 255. Soon to be under the knife for an 87 5 speed swap

1992 Mustang LX 5.0, headers, H pipe, and soon to have subframe connectors to boot!
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Mikey97D Offline
Senior Member
#2
(09-14-2020, 01:16 AM)86thunderchicken Wrote: Anyone know the proper way to bleed the hydraulic clutch? I just swapped the 87 T5 into the car and I bled the slave cylinder but pedal still feels kind of soft. Mind you this stuff was siting for about 10 years so I’m planning on getting a new slave cylinder and possibly a master cylinder.

From what I understand you bled the system through the slave cylinder?

Does the clutch drag when you have the clutch pedal pushed all the way down?
1988 TC, 5 spd, Stinger 3" Exhaust, Schneider Roller Cam, -4° Cam Pulley, Cone Filter, Gilles Boost Control Valve set at 17 psi, Walbro 255 lph, CHE Rear Lower and Upper Control Arms, Braided Brake Lines, Hawk HPS 5.0 Front and HPS (F) Rear, CRES Inserts in front calipers, and '93 Cobra Wheels with General 235/50R17 Tires.   
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86thunderchicken Offline
Member
#3
I installed everything, and bled via the bleeder valve/nipple on the slave cylinder. Mind you this stuff has been sitting for probably 10 years so it may be no good.

First half of pedal feels fairly soft then stiffens up very briefly right in the middle then the other half way down soft as well.
1986 TC 240,000 miles. Walbro 255. Soon to be under the knife for an 87 5 speed swap

1992 Mustang LX 5.0, headers, H pipe, and soon to have subframe connectors to boot!
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Mikey97D Offline
Senior Member
#4
(09-15-2020, 04:12 AM)86thunderchicken Wrote: I installed everything, and bled via the bleeder valve/nipple on the slave cylinder. Mind you this stuff has been sitting for probably 10 years so it may be no good.

First half of pedal feels fairly soft then stiffens up very briefly right in the middle then the other half way down soft as well.

Sounds as if it still has air in the system.

1. Does the clutch drag when the car is running?

You can try a motorcycle trick I do on some of my dirt bikes with the front brake where I wrap a bungee cord or zip tie on the front brake lever over night.  This forces the air bubble to another spot and firms the lever up.
You can leave a brick or something heavy on the pedal over night then bleed it again the next day.
1988 TC, 5 spd, Stinger 3" Exhaust, Schneider Roller Cam, -4° Cam Pulley, Cone Filter, Gilles Boost Control Valve set at 17 psi, Walbro 255 lph, CHE Rear Lower and Upper Control Arms, Braided Brake Lines, Hawk HPS 5.0 Front and HPS (F) Rear, CRES Inserts in front calipers, and '93 Cobra Wheels with General 235/50R17 Tires.   
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86thunderchicken Offline
Member
#5
I would imagine it does still have air in it. When I was bleeding it I could feel the pressure in the line, the fluid moving and I could hear it. Maybe this helps, when I installed the slave cylinder it didn’t seem that stiff/powerful, once it’s in, the cover basically holds it into place. As in I can remove it easily. I don’t know if that means it just needs bled more or it’s just too worn out ?‍♂️

I’m honestly afraid to get it off the jack stands because I don’t want it to not come out of gear. But it will go into gear but it’s hard to put into reverse.

I will definitely give that a try tonight and we will see what happens ?‍♂️
1986 TC 240,000 miles. Walbro 255. Soon to be under the knife for an 87 5 speed swap

1992 Mustang LX 5.0, headers, H pipe, and soon to have subframe connectors to boot!
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Mikey97D Offline
Senior Member
#6
(09-16-2020, 01:34 AM)86thunderchicken Wrote: I would imagine it does still have air in it. When I was bleeding it I could feel the pressure in the line, the fluid moving and I could hear it. Maybe this helps, when I installed the slave cylinder it didn’t seem that stiff/powerful, once it’s in, the cover basically holds it into place. As in I can remove it easily. I don’t know if that means it just needs bled more or it’s just too worn out ?‍♂️

I’m honestly afraid to get it off the jack stands because I don’t want it to not come out of gear. But it will go into gear but it’s hard to put into reverse.

I will definitely give that a try tonight and we will see what happens ?‍♂️

Sounds like a good time to adjust the emergency brake so it holds and stalls the car while on jack stands!  You'll be able to tell if the clutch is dragging with the pedal pressed in with the emergency brake on from that wonderful aroma!
1988 TC, 5 spd, Stinger 3" Exhaust, Schneider Roller Cam, -4° Cam Pulley, Cone Filter, Gilles Boost Control Valve set at 17 psi, Walbro 255 lph, CHE Rear Lower and Upper Control Arms, Braided Brake Lines, Hawk HPS 5.0 Front and HPS (F) Rear, CRES Inserts in front calipers, and '93 Cobra Wheels with General 235/50R17 Tires.   
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Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#7
These things can be a PITA to bleed due to the shape of the line from the MC to the slave.

Try pressure bleeding it. Make up some kind of adapter to seal onto the MC reservoir and apply a few psi of compressed air to the fluid in the MC and open the bleeder in the slave. Dont let the MC run dry. If that doesnt work I suggest replacing the MC and slave. RA has both for reasonable prices.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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fred k Offline
Senior Member
#8
(09-15-2020, 02:22 PM)Mikey97D Wrote:
(09-15-2020, 04:12 AM)86thunderchicken Wrote: I installed everything, and bled via the bleeder valve/nipple on the slave cylinder. Mind you this stuff has been sitting for probably 10 years so it may be no good.

First half of pedal feels fairly soft then stiffens up very briefly right in the middle then the other half way down soft as well.

Sounds as if it still has air in the system.

1. Does the clutch drag when the car is running?

You can try a motorcycle trick I do on some of my dirt bikes with the front brake where I wrap a bungee cord or zip tie on the front brake lever over night.  This forces the air bubble to another spot and firms the lever up.
You can leave a brick or something heavy on the pedal over night then bleed it again the next day.

A trick I've used for years when bleeding alone is to take your 2 ft. window scraper (or something along those lines for non-snow areas) and run the driver's seat back and place the scraper between the brake pedal and the front of the seat.  Run the seat up and there is your pressure on the MC.  Bleed then move the seat back and then up again and repeat until you have a hard pedal.  Should work the same for the clutch pedal as the seat has a fair distance of travel.
fred l kennedy
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86thunderchicken Offline
Member
#9
Mikey97D- I was planning on getting the parking/emergency brake working better.

Jeff K- new master cylinder and slave cylinder should be here tomorrow.

Fred k- I have some lumber in the garage I could possibly use

After messing with it a bit more seems like fairly soft pedal until half way then gets stiffer until all the way down. Now I drive a tractor trailer for Coca Cola for a living and the trucks have hydraulic clutches and now that I’m thinking about it they tend to be fairly soft to a point 1/3 or 1/2 way down on the pedal then firmer afterward.

I’m pretty certain on T5’s the reverse gear is not synchronized correct? It definitely did not want to go into reverse but it did and then came out.
1986 TC 240,000 miles. Walbro 255. Soon to be under the knife for an 87 5 speed swap

1992 Mustang LX 5.0, headers, H pipe, and soon to have subframe connectors to boot!
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anasazi4st Offline
Senior Member
#10
(09-17-2020, 12:52 AM)86thunderchicken Wrote: Mikey97D- I was planning on getting the parking/emergency brake working better.

Jeff K- new master cylinder and slave cylinder should be here tomorrow.

Fred k- I have some lumber in the garage I could possibly use

After messing with it a bit more seems like fairly soft pedal until half way then gets stiffer until all the way down. Now I drive a tractor trailer for Coca Cola for a living and the trucks have hydraulic clutches and now that I’m thinking about it they tend to be fairly soft to a point 1/3 or 1/2 way down on the pedal then firmer afterward.

I’m pretty certain on T5’s the reverse gear is not synchronized correct? It definitely did not want to go into reverse but it did and then came out.

If you use Ford’s shop manual as a guide (or an older Haynes one), just remember that the clutch master cylinder DOES NOT come out by turning it 45 degrees CLOCKWISE. The 1988 Supplement to the Ford manuals CORRECTLY instructs you to turn it COUNTER-CLOCKWISE to remove it.

If you search in this forum for CLUTCH you should find a thread where this has been discussed.

And, IIRC (if I recall correctly), the Reverse gear is NOT synchronized.  And yes, even with the engine off you sometimes have to depress the clutch pedal to go into reverse when parked.
Another proud dues-paying member.

1987 Turbo Coupe w/T5OD, 8.8 axle, grey smoke; most options. Got it in 1991 with 41K miles: 3 turbos, 2 heater cores, 3 T5OD full rebuilds, 6 clutches, 1 head gasket, 2 Teves II ABS units, etc. later....
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