Desperate for clutch bleeding help
 

Clutch bleeding tips PLEASE.

Replaced CSC, clutch and flywheel. Got it to where it was full resistance and releasing completely.

Feeling comfortable and took it for a test drive and halfway through started sticking closer to the floor and not disengaging fully...by the time I stopped and let my buddy have a feel it would no longer go into gear.

We've been on the side of the road trying to bleed again now for 45 minutes.

Does anyone have any bloody ideas? This thing won't build to full resistance again and we're both out of ideas

Thinking master cylinder is still good because it does still build resistance, just not full. Pumping slowly and steadily.

Did your CSC fail? If so, did you replace the CMC?

Are you just bleeding clean fluid at this point or does there still seem to be air in the system?

then ur csc is probably dead and no amount of bleeding will help it call AAA or your insurance.

I'm no expert, but if your CSC failed previously, I'm pretty sure your CMC is hosed.

If you replaced it to prevent failure, then you may be right.

No just bought heavy duty replacement and we still think the cylinder is good because it does build some resistance after enough pumping.

air on the bleed, definitely

Nothing failed, I just bought a heavy duty replacement along with clutch and flywheel

ok then you just need to refine your bleed technique :confused:

ok if its new then yeah try pump it a few times, never push the pedal down past 3/4 of its travel, and crack and tighten the bleeder very quickly. so pump a few times hold it down and quickly crack and tighten the bleeder.

We gravity bled it with clutch popped out and not depressed and topped it off and clutch felt perfect. Friend wanted to bleed it one last time and can't get it right again. We're going to gravity bleed again and see if we can replicate. If we can, should we leave it?

Sounds like a plan

Replicated but as soon as we started driving and took it out of gear the clutch got weak and would no longer go into gear. We're both at our wits end.

Not sure what to tell you. It still sounds like a bleeding issue. When you say you are gravity bleeding, I'm familiar with this as a technique for one person to bleed the clutch. Are there not two people with you? One in the car on the pedal and one under the car operating the bleeder valve? I think you know the right process but just for $hits here goes:

With the bleed valve closed, pump the clutch pedal several times (I usually have my helper do it ~5 times). On the last pump, depress the pedal fully and hold, and at the same time crack the bleed valve briefly and the close. Repeat until no air comes out. I've used nearly an extra 1L of Motul before we got it right the first time. The last time it was much quicker.

http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...der-out-3.html

Im thinking its the CMC. It will build pressure to a certain point, then lose it all. There is no air in the line from what I cant tell when I open the bleeder valve. My hunch tells me CMC.

As a matter of an update for anyone who cared, we had several more gearheads come over and spend a few hours attempting different methods of bleeding.

The general consensus now is that it is in fact the Master Cylinder, and I suppose one way or another we'll know for sure tomorrow night when the new piece goes in.

Sorry to hear man. GL with the fix :tiphat:

It looks like an OEM CMC is your only option at this point. ZSpeed was working on an aftermarket one, but it is still on the back burners apparently.

This thread is the only documentation I could find where someone is using an aftermarket CMC without having to remove the ABS module.

http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...installed.html

Yessir...spent plenty of time looking (wastefully, as it happens) for an aftermarket upgrade, and I'm truly surprised that there doesn't seem to be one. Z1 claims recorded CMC failures are so low that there's no market for it...but I find that hard to believe.

At any rate, the things described here about MC failures seem to sync up with my own experiences...things like on hard launch the clutch getting stuck to the floor with a redlining engine until pumped a few times...this only happened two or three times total over the last few months, but it did happen...and how when bleeding the resistance feel would build to a certain pressure near full release and then resistance would start to disappear.

Somewhere else a ZSpeed guy says ""Once you open the system, if the master cylinder is weak it will not work correctly." when telling someone why they recommended buying one with a CSC...something I'd wish I'd known.

I'm trying not to latch into this as my sole hope, but if it doesn't work I just don't know what else to think. My buddies seem to think this'll solve it, so I'm hanging my hat on it.

We'll see tomorrow!

Side note: today, my buddy's 370 CMC also crapped out. Not completely; he's still got enough travel room to grab gears and shift, but it's very, very weak compared to last night.

Something is in the air here :confused:

To be honest, my clutch pedal got soft a few months ago. Replacing my clutch pedal with the RJM assembly this past weekend seems to have made it more noticeable :\

I was expecting the CSC to go out first. I guess replacing the CMC is easy enough, I can do that if it really starts to bug me and the CSC is still OK. Or I can just wait until I need clutch/transmission work and replace it all. Or maybe I should start doing hard launches off the stoplight lines to help nudge it along toward failure :icon17:

The CMC is certainly less trouble than the CSC. Had to remove two screws from the ABS that were in the way but that was probably the hardest part next to the Lin, which just seemed to be frustrating.

Might as well get it done, mate....before it goes all the way out. Don't play with fire.

We just threw in a new master cylinder and as was predicted...from the very first pump on bleeding the effect was noticeable...and we were finished bleeding I'd say within 10 minutes.

So I don't care how many low miles you have on that pretty little Z, here's the advice I really wish someone had given me when I upgraded my clutch, flywheel and CSC...just do yourself a favor and go ahead and buy a new master cylinder as well. You may not need it, you may need it and not even know it, but there's a solid chance that when you crack that system open you're going to ruin the one you do have and you'll wish you'd have bought one anyway.

You're spending that kinda cash on upgrades anyway, an extra 110 or so won't break you. Just save yourself the trouble and buy it and throw it in there, and even if you didn't need it you'll have bought yourself extra longevity anyway.

Feels soooooo goooooood to be driving my little fair lady again. Taking it easy during the break-in is going to be rough after so long outside of her...but she'll be broken in by ZDayZ.

See ya'll in the mountains next week!

How is the CMC ruined by breaking open the system? Not doubting you, just confused. Is it possible that air got into the system that you couldn't get out without taking it all apart? Where did you source the new CMC, Nissan?