ALFAGTV6.COM

Hey all,
Anyone got procedures for bleeding the clutch or performing a clutch adjustment on an '84 GTV6? My clutch is a little wierd, maybe it needs an adjustment or perhaps there is air in the system. It seems to be catching incositantly. Sometimes very high, and sometimes at the normal position. I've put around 3-4k on the car since its restoration. Any ideas or procedures to follow here?

Rob

When you bled it, did you have the bleed screw at the top in the mount? Did you greese up the pivot point of the clutch arm really well? Did you put in a new master and slave cylinder during restoration? New rubber clutch line?

Rebuilt master and slave. Don't remember the bleed screw. New clutch line and didn't grease the pivot joint.

Rob

Last week, I've changed brake and clutch fuild(85 GTV6 with TS gearbox).

I managed to bleed brake all right. It is firm and improved pedal travel a lot. However I could not get the clutch right. I bleed and bleed, no air is coming out but the pressure is only starting to build up about halfway of pedal travel. I couldn't get it into any gear.

I bleed clutch last night again. I used almost full bottle of fuild, still no air coming out but pedal feels same.

Has anyone experienced this symtom?

Thanks everyone.

Jisop

If you don't have a pressure bleeder kit, it can be a bit fiddly. Make sure your bleeder valve is in an upright position so as to release air bubbles that surface to the top. Otherwise they just get trapped and continue to affect pressure.

Your technique may also be contributing. Use a non return drain hose if you are doing it yourself and of course never return any used fluids.

Finally, for some mysterious reason, you may find that it will come good all by itself over a few days. Particularly if you can get some use out of it but not necessarily a full clutch disingagement (mine usually do).

Don't give up just yet.

Thanks MD,

I use a hose with non return valve attached and my wife is helpping me to operate pedal.

MD wrote: Make sure your bleeder valve is in an upright position so as to release air bubbles that surface to the top.

How do I make bleeder valve is in an upright position?? Do I have to release two bolts which holding slave cylinder and rotate slave cylinder to make bleeder upright position??

dont know if this is any help but, on the bikes I use a big plastic syringe with a clear plastic tube attatched to the nipple. Fill the resivour up and suck the fluid through untill there are no more bubbles. Making sure that the fluid never runs dry from the reseviour. Also the slave cylinder is best bleed pointing in a downward position so there is no air trapped in the wrong end of the cylinder. Hope this helps. Cant say if it is of any practical use as I havent really had to check out the clutch system on my car yet. (looking for wood).

jisop

Unlike the brakes, this item is usually not that critical. Even though timBoWe and I do not agree on the ideal position of the bleeder nipple, fortunately as I say it is not that critical. I do however agree with him when it comes to using some suction to pull the fluid through as he suggests. Just be careful not to introduce new air !!
If the flex hose will accommodate half a turn, it should be possible to rotate the slave cylinder by the use of an open end spanner so as to position the nipple at the top of the cylinder if it is not already there.

(sorry tim)

No cool as bro. As I said I have had no experience with the above. Just 0.02c worth from bike days.

How do I make bleeder valve is in an upright position?? Do I have to release two bolts which holding slave cylinder and rotate slave cylinder to make bleeder upright position??[/quote]

Slave cylinder is held in with two circlips. Should be able to just spin it.

I had a hard time once bleeding the clutch on a Milano. Ended up using a small football pump with a very tight fitting hole in the reservoir cap to pressurize the system and bled it that way.

Thanks MD, Tim, Scott,

As MD said, clutch is geting little better day by day. I managed to drive to my office yesterday(I had to pump a pedal before I shift) and a bit better this mornnig. I will wait a few more days and see that I need to bleed clutch system.

I've find DP and Greg's method very interesting from old forum.

Step one, Open bleeder on slave cyl. then push the piston all the way in (thanks to dp for this tip). Next close bleeder and have a friend pump the clutch pedal rapidly a bunch of times and stop with the pedal on the floor. Now open the bleeder and a bunch of air under pressure will shoot out. Repeat this until you start to get a pedal then just bleed it normally the rest of the way.

If I need to bleed again, I will combine MD's and DP&Greg's Method together.


Cheers

I happened to see this thread yesterday when I was having trouble bleeding my clutch. I was using a pressure bleeder, with the bleed screw at the 12 o'clock position, and the clutch pedal still wasn't right. So I tried something different. I pushed the clutch pedal all the way to the floor and held with a piece of pipe (pushed up against the driver's seat). With the clutch pedal in the downward positon, the pressure bleeder putting 7 psi on the master cylinder, I opened the slave bleed screw and there popped out 5 bubbles. The clutch now appears to work fine. I hope this is helpful to anybody else having difficulty bleeding the clutch.

Bill in Maryland

Be careful of the type of fluid you use. I picked up some standard brake fluid from the auto store, put it in my clutch reservoir and within minutes, my clutch pedal felt like bubblegum. Fluid leaked out through master into pedal box overnight. I think this new brake fluid dissolved the previously fine master seals!

Unfortunately, it was a few months ago and I dont remember the name...

Which type is a good compatable clutch fluid?

Do you use different brake and clutch fluids? (at one time, Alfa had these running off the same reservoir.)

Presently, I have separate reservoirs..

So does bleeding the clutch help with the pedal adjustment? My '84 has the "sweet spot" really high off the floor almost at the top of the pedal travel. I have never delt with this kind of clutch since my Fiats has a clutch cable.