Hi chaps,
Having bled my defender clutch in the past and after some useful advice from some guys in this forum regarding my TD4 clutch (especially Chaser) I felt my TD4 Freelander needed similar treatment to the clutch hydraulics.
I had a new clutch master cylinder fitted recently as mines was leaking from the shaft in the footwell, it was also very loose on the foot! Replacin the master cylinder helped tighten up the feel of the pedal but it still took bite only a few mm off of the floor.
This got me thinking and onto simlar threads in this forum, if clutch fluid was leakin out of my old master cylinder then there is a chance that air would have leaked in past the same worn seals!
This is what I did step by step:
Collect all tools necessary to do the job - 13mm and 8mm spanner, big syringe, dot4 brake and clutch fluid, an old tonic bottle, a length of pastic tube, some rags and a work lamp
1.)
Put your empty bottle on the bottom radiator hose below the fans so you can see it topping up. Thread one end of your rubber tube into the bottle, all the way to the bottom!
2.)
Locate the clutch slave cylinder as it comes out of the bell housing, one leg will go to the bulkhead/master cylinder fitting and the other one will have a bleed nipple sticking out. Attach the other end of your rubber tube to this nipple
3.)
Fill your large syringe with Clutch fluid, careful - dont get it on our paintwork!!
4.)
Put an inch or so of fresh clutch fluid into your tonic bottle so that the end of the rubber hose is submerged (this stops air being drawn back into the slave cylinder)
5.)
Remove the rubber cap from your clutch master cylinder resevoir (on the bulkhead just to the right of your oil filler cap)
6.)
Looking at my fluid it looks like the new master cylinder assembly I brought had contaminated fluid - if you look closely you can see the fluid is slightly coloidal (cloudy) I suspect water contamination!!
7.)
Now, undo the 8mm bleed nipple about two turns and then go into your truck and fully press down the clutch pedal and pull it up with your hand once!
Now go and check your bottle, make sure it doesnt overflow - after each pump of the clutch i refill the master cylinder resevoir with fresh clutch fluid
On the first pump I went round and looked in the bottle and saw a few air bubbles rising to the surface, this was air from the empty tube I had fitted, after your first pump of the clutch pedal the tube should be full of fluid and the only air coming out now will be air in the hydraulic fluid.
I pumped my clutch by hand a total 0f 3 times, topping up the master cylinder each time. My tonic bottle then got too full to continue, I could have tipped it and started again but I decided to close the 8mm nipple and try the clutch.
Findings - clutch now feels super smooth and takes up bite halfway through the travel now and not just a few mm from the floor.
8.)
Have a look at your old fluid, mine clearly shows the coloidal seperation!
Hopefully this will help some of you, will try and order my pics for clarity for you now
)
