Bleeding clutch with brakes

[ClareSutton]

I have been reading through the forum on "brake bleeding" and many times it is mentioned to bleed the clutch along with the 4 wheels on a standard. If my clutch is working fine, do I really have to bleed it with the 4 wheels when trying to remove air from the brake lines (soft brakes)? It doesn't say to do this in the Bentley.

[MarkWard]

No you don’t need to bleed the clutch. It is a good time to since both masters share the same fluid reservoir.
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[ClareSutton]

Thanks, Mark. That's what I thought. Just wanted to hear it from someone else.

[bkleysteuber]

I have a Bentley repair manual, thru year 1987, an on page 30.2/3, Clutch Controls, it addresses the requirement to replace the brake fluid every two yrs. This is the same period of time that is recommended for the brakes and for the same reason, brake fluid absorbs moisture from air. This moisture will rust the internal components of the brake/clutch system.

Additionally, the manual, pg 30.2, under Bleeder screw, states to “pressure bleed” the system. Here is my experience with bleeding the clutch system. On a ‘91 Passat I thought I could gravity feed and then pump the clutch to purge the clutch system following a major rebuild of the engine.. I burnt up two clutches in the process because there was still air in the system, clutch plate would pulsate. On my ‘86 westy, my clutch slave cylinder rusted out causing clutch failure even though I bleed the system at the same time as my brakes (every two years, of course) using the gravity and pump method for brakes and clutch. When I PRESSURE bleed the clutch system, after my normal way of bleeding, I was surprised at how rusty and dirty the fluid in the slave cylinder was.

Although Bentley, pg 47.8, same manual, thru ‘87, does not specify to use a pressure bleeder for the brakes, I use the pressure bleeding procedures for the clutch and brakes. I then use the old pump up the brakes and release the pressure thru fluid release at each wheel cylinder, method. By the way, the order to bleed the brakes is shown on the same page, 47.8, i.e., start with the wheel that is the farthest from the brake master cylinder and work towards the closest wheel, left front. I hope this helps. I’m new to the forum and don’t know how to use pictures yet.

[Ahwahnee]

[pathao]

[valvecovergasket]

[LobWedge]