Clutch Question

[sportfan]

I was trying to finish up some mods on my 13' Sport today. I had changed all the OEM rubber brake lines out to the Neu-f stainless ones and front calipers ,disc, and pads for Abarth OEM front brakes. All I had to do was bleed the brakes. That went fine , no leaks and pedal doesn't hardly move. While the power bleeder was still pressured up I bled the clutch . When I checked out the clutch pedal , it went straight to the floor and stayed there. I thought the return spring would have returned the pedal but, it stayed on the floor. Have I broke something or do I need to bleed it more? Anyone been through this ?

[pasomoto]

It was in an Abarth and not during a bleed, but one spring on first trip out after winter's storage, I 'd driven about ten miles in town, and as I stepped on the clutch at a light, it stayed on the floor. I simply pulled it back with my foot and all was well.

I'd had this happen in a toyota from a bad oring. In the Abarth, it being nearly new, I didn't suspect a nicked oring but a fluke internall bypass of fluid. As I learned more about the system, I gathered it was related to the clutch delay valve hanging or a possible air bubble, leading to bypass of pressure there. That was the only time it happened and was around the 2000 mile mark. nothing since, at 7600.

[sportfan]

Yesterday a friend came by and we bled the clutch very many times and got all the air out. I've driven it two times and everything is working real well. All the brake upgrades really made a difference. I hope nobody is close behind me if I have to do a hard stop.

[fast_dave]

I use a different method - a Harbor Freight hand operated vacuum bleeder and have had zero issues with 3 fluid flushes (both brakes and clutch).

There is also a FIAT 500 specific order to the fluid flush procedure - LINK: http://www.fiat500usaforum.com/showt...brake+bleeding

I use Valvoline DOT 3/4 Synthetic Fluid purchased at PepBoys by the Quart.

Hope that helps -

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[sportfan]

Thanks for the tip. I used a pump up type bleeder which worked great on the brakes. I bled the clutch with it pressured up until the bubbles quit. I guess it just had more air in the clutch.I look at the link. I have a vaccum pump also. So far so good ,the brakes and clutch work fine. Alignment is Thursday afternoon.

[map]

That triggered a thought. I have always heard you should replace all existing rubber parts when switching to synthetic fluid. Could the existing brake lines have enough fluid soaked in to make a difference?

[BigDaddySRT]

DOT 3, 4 and 5.2 are all glycol based and "synthetic". LOL
DOT 5 is silicone based. Don't Mix DOT 5 Fluids with other brake fluid types.

I always flush the entire brake system with fresh DOT 4 Brake Fluid.
I start by using a turkey baster and sucking all the old fluid out of the reservoir.
Fill the reservoir with fresh fluid and run the proper bleeding procedure.

I also us a Mighty Vac Vacuum Bleeder system so I can run the operation by myself with no assistance.

[sportfan]

All the oem rubber lines were replaced with the stainless Neuspeed lines.