Clutch bleeding Procedure

[MauiRoads]

Thanks for the explanation on the ABS pump. I'll have to dig into that a little more, and look for an independent shop that has a scan tool that can do that.

I should have mentioned: my brakes felt soft before installing the stainless lines, and no worse after. There was dark fluid and some air in the system. I've done a good hard run, and will re-bleed, hopefully after finding somewhere safe to get into the ABS a few times.

When installing the stainless lines, I don't think I allowed the fluid to drain all the way up to the ABS unit, and I kept fluid in the reservoir. When changing lines, I use vacum caps to cap the hard lines as soon as I detach the soft line below. I thread the new line into the caliper first, get the top of the soft line in place, and then quickly uncap the hard line and thread it onto the top of the soft line. There's not much fluid loss or mess, except what was inside the old soft line.

I've had stainless lines in many other vehicles, and depending on the condition of the old rubber lines, I could notice a difference in firmness of the pedal. On older vehicles I replace the rubber lines with stainless just to avoid the unknowns of the older lines' visually undetectable aging, cracking, swelling under pressure, etc., and for their resistance to impacts and cuts.

 

[Ford ST]

Thanks for the explanation on the ABS pump. I'll have to dig into that a little more, and look for an independent shop that has a scan tool that can do that.

I should have mentioned: my brakes felt soft before installing the stainless lines, and no worse after. There was dark fluid and some air in the system. I've done a good hard run, and will re-bleed, hopefully after finding somewhere safe to get into the ABS a few times.

When installing the stainless lines, I don't think I allowed the fluid to drain all the way up to the ABS unit, and I kept fluid in the reservoir. When changing lines, I use vacum caps to cap the hard lines as soon as I detach the soft line below. I thread the new line into the caliper first, get the top of the soft line in place, and then quickly uncap the hard line and thread it onto the top of the soft line. There's not much fluid loss or mess, except what was inside the old soft line.

I've had stainless lines in many other vehicles, and depending on the condition of the old rubber lines, I could notice a difference in firmness of the pedal. On older vehicles I replace the rubber lines with stainless just to avoid the unknowns of the older lines' visually undetectable aging, cracking, swelling under pressure, etc., and for their resistance to impacts and cuts.

I would say these cars have pretty good pedal feel. With that said there are two different OEM brake pads. The ones that came with the cars equipped from the factory with summer tires, and the ones that came equipped with all season tires. Do some hard driving and do another fluid flush and you should be good. There is no way you got air in the ABS system with the steps that you did. I did a brake fluid flush this year and it took 2 qt to get my system completely clean.

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[MauiRoads]

Thanks Ford ST. I'll give the re-bleed a try.
Lesson learned: flush first with a quart of "regular" DOT 4, before putting in the RBF600.
Too bad the ATE Blue and Amber aren't still available in the US. So much easier to tell when you've completely flushed the old fluid. I've read that US regulations changed to require only clear/amber brake fluid. I've also found nothing but warnings against adding even the slightest bit of any kind of dye to the brake fluid. I'd like to find out what ATE used for their Blue. But that's another rabbit hole...

 

[FiestaSTdude]

I have worked on cars with 30 year old rubber brake lines. Don't worry about it.

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I currently drive a car with (as far as I know) 30 year old rubber brake lines. Maybe I should start to worry about it lol

 

[M-Sport fan]

Thanks Ford ST. I'll give the re-bleed a try.
Lesson learned: flush first with a quart of "regular" DOT 4, before putting in the RBF600.
Too bad the ATE Blue and Amber aren't still available in the US. So much easier to tell when you've completely flushed the old fluid. I've read that US regulations changed to require only clear/amber brake fluid. I've also found nothing but warnings against adding even the slightest bit of any kind of dye to the brake fluid. I'd like to find out what ATE used for their Blue. But that's another rabbit hole...

I always thought that regulation was enacted in order to prevent absolute dummies from dumping blue washer fluid into their brake reservoir (and vice versa).

This is the first I've ever heard of the dye used itself being problematic for any brake system out there.

 

[MauiRoads]

Sorry, maybe I confused the issue. I agree that the US now requires only clear-to-amber brake fluid, to avoid confusion of fluids and fluid colors. Apparently it is to avoid confusion with the required purple color of Dot-5 silicone-based brake fluid; for hazard clean-up; to avoid thinking it is Gatorade or other blue beverage, etc...
ATE's blue fluid didn't have problems with the dye, it was regulated-out just because of the color.

My research discouraged me from adding some type of dye to my new fluid before flushing, for various reasons...another rabbit hole.

Yes, I'll just get over it. Holding white paper behind clear tubing at the bleeder helps.

 

[MauiRoads]

Quick follow-up. I put an inch of clean fluid in the bottom of a clear disposable water bottle. As I bled a caliper, I would run some of the fluid into an identical clear bottle and compare the new and old, side by side in good light, against a white background. It worked pretty well. It took A LOT of fluid to get them to match up. I have a feeling the previous owner may have never bled the brakes (or not in a long time) and there was accumulated goo in the whole system. I had to brush out the interior surfaces of the reservoir several times too. Eventually, I got clean fluid at all calipers.

I've done a FORScan bleed of the ABS and who knows what that released into the system. I am working with them on allowing the bleed of individual components and will have more on that soon on another thread: https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/how-to-bleed-brakes-with-forscan.29950/.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^Now that it is warming up here, I am going to have to find a shop/someone to be able to do this for me (I absolutely cannot have the car up in the air on jack stands with all four wheels off here!!), since the heat is when my clutch acts up with the no-return pedal (I am hoping due to 6.5 year old, 43K mile factory fluid).

 

[carnufex]

Yeah, I ended up using the thicker washer. The other one didn't seal.
Stupid question, how do you open the slave cylinder bleeder? There's no spot for a wrench.
View attachment 48859

I couldn't for the life of me find this. Thanks for the reference.

 

[tri-pedaler]

^^^Now that it is warming up here, I am going to have to find a shop/someone to be able to do this for me (I absolutely cannot have the car up in the air on jack stands with all four wheels off here!!), since the heat is when my clutch acts up with the no-return pedal (I am hoping due to 6.5 year old, 43K mile factory fluid).

Hope it’s not the dreaded slave cylinder 🤞

 

[esp_martin]

^^^Now that it is warming up here, I am going to have to find a shop/someone to be able to do this for me (I absolutely cannot have the car up in the air on jack stands with all four wheels off here!!), since the heat is when my clutch acts up with the no-return pedal (I am hoping due to 6.5 year old, 43K mile factory fluid).

@M-Sport fan i'm planning on doing this exact procedure too and have access to a gravel driveway. if you're desperate/brave enough in trekking to North Philly to avoid a shop doing this, i'd be willing to plan around your weekend schedule.

everything i've read says this goes a lot easier as a two-person job anyway. PM me if you're interested and we can figure out how/when to do this

edit: it's a private gravel driveway that is fenced in with street access. when i meant desperate i didn't mean desperate AND stupid.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^North Philly is not all that bad, hell, Glenside is even considered North Philly, kind of.

It is mostly a lack of trust thing due to those shops/dealers not allowing me to WATCH them do the brake/clutch flush which is making me hesitant, or them doing it but using cheaper/lesser fluid than the stuff I am providing since I cannot see what they are putting back into the system.

I am guessing that you have not found any D.I.Y. lift/bay rental places anywhere in the area besides that one way way out near York/Carlisle, correct?

 

[tri-pedaler]

Just scheduled a full flush of my system for next week at a local shop. They seem to understand Forscan. I’m at 75,000 miles and unsure if it’s ever been done, but wanted to cycle through the ABS module without getting my own OBD2 adapter…

 

[inzpie]

Hello, sorry to bump an old thread! I was active on the fiesta ST subreddit before it was tanked, but glad I found the forum!

If this thread is still active, I have a question: prior to finding this thread I had watched a video on YouTube about reverse bleeding the clutch (this one):

View: https://youtu.be/4xhv7ZeFsfc
Has anyone used this method before to success, and what might be the disadvantages? I mistakenly(?) ordered the suction tool planning around this method but now second guessing myself and don't want to go ahead with a reverse flush if it's not recommended. I don't necessarily want to buy another piece of pressurizing equipment, but if it's for the best I'll switch gears from the original plan.

Thank you in advance!

 

[FiestaSTdude]

Hello, sorry to bump an old thread! I was active on the fiesta ST subreddit before it was tanked, but glad I found the forum!

If this thread is still active, I have a question: prior to finding this thread I had watched a video on YouTube about reverse bleeding the clutch (this one):

View: https://youtu.be/4xhv7ZeFsfc
Has anyone used this method before to success, and what might be the disadvantages? I mistakenly(?) ordered the suction tool planning around this method but now second guessing myself and don't want to go ahead with a reverse flush if it's not recommended. I don't necessarily want to buy another piece of pressurizing equipment, but if it's for the best I'll switch gears from the original plan.

Thank you in advance!

I would buy the pressure bleeder that I talked about on the 1st or 2nd page of this thread. I think the video is demonstrating how to fill the system with fluid if it’s completely empty, not just a flush of the system.

 

[FiestaSTdude]

So let’s say hypothetically I tried to bleed my clutch differently than typhoonfists method and sucked in air. I used my pressure bleeder to push fluid in via the normal method (not reverse flush) and it’s a lot better but it still feels a little weird. It feels like it wants to lock me out of gear but it does shift it just doesn’t feel as smooth as it should. I’m going to bleed it again with the pressure bleeder. If that doesn’t work, should I try to reverse bleed it?

 

[TyphoonFiST]

So let’s say hypothetically I tried to bleed my clutch differently than typhoonfists method and sucked in air. I used my pressure bleeder to push fluid in via the normal method (not reverse flush) and it’s a lot better but it still feels a little weird. It feels like it wants to lock me out of gear but it does shift it just doesn’t feel as smooth as it should. I’m going to bleed it again with the pressure bleeder. If that doesn’t work, should I try to reverse bleed it?

I bled mine i think 2-3 times*

 

[Roboticrocket]

It's a pressure bleeder * Fixed for Steve* it hooks up to the Master cylinder reservoir and you pump it up to seal the system and open the bleeder and the fluid comes right out along with an air in the system. Made quick work flushing the brake system and clutch system. I did them both in under 30 mins after setting the car up on jackstands and removing all the wheels.

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I know this is an old post but why put the car on jackstands with the wheels removed?

 

[TyphoonFiST]

I know this is an old post but why put the car on jackstands with the wheels removed?

Easier ACCESS to the calipers bleeder screws* and a better place to hang the bottles to catch the fluid if you bought the motive Kit i spoke about.

 

[Roboticrocket]

Easier ACCESS to the calipers bleeder screws* and a better place to hang the bottles to catch the fluid if you bought the motive Kit i spoke about.

I’m sorry Typhoon, I should have paid better attention. I was reading this as a thread about bleeding the clutch, not the brakes too. I assume it would be beneficial to do both simultaneously. I saw you said you bled/ran the clutch 2-3 times, was that due to air bubble concerns? I’m grabbing 1,000 ml of Motul 5.1, would you suggest buying 1.5 L for the clutch alone? Thanks in advance!