Gravity bleeding the 300Tdi clutch - easy!

[@MrRobmellor]

In the days before motorways here in the UK I got stuck with a clutch that had run out of fluid due to a leaking slave. The only thing that I could get hold of was a bottle of cough mixture that was for my young child who was traveling with me and my wife. Out of shear desperation I poured that into the master cylinder and hoped for the best. Not only did it get us home, it actually lasted the car out for another 18 months. I think that it must have been the sugar in the cough mixture that sealed the leaking slave cylinder, which was a god send when in those days you had to stop at all those traffic lights and cross roads, not like now once you get onto the motorway there's no need to change gear as much. I bet you have never heard anything as daft as that before , have you Mike. Stay happy, Yorkshire Rob.

[@BritannicaRestorations]

I have known milk to do the job too, but may be a bit rancid after 18months!

[@michaelevans5953]

Talking of things you do to get you home, back in the 90s I got stuck at work after a night shift with a bone dry petrol tank on my BMW 1000 bike. Last one to leave, nobody around to help, no day shift coming in, nothing to siphon, so I got desperate. I found an aerosol containing a solvent cleaner. Probably something like today's brake cleaner, or trichloroethane. Anyway, it said highly flammable on it so I thought that will do. De-gassed and punctured a couple of aerosols and poured them in. Sure enough it fired up. Wouldn't idle and had to keep the throttle open above 2000rpm. Ran rough as hell. The exhaust also re-circulated a bit due to the fairing windscreen and didn't half make my eyes sting. But it got me a mile down the road to the garage. Happy days they were.

[@mattsmith2051]

That is one immaculate looking defender!

[@johnchetwynd3618]

I reverse bleed mine. Cheap pump action oil can and a bit of plastic tubing. Attach it to the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder and keep pumping until your glamorous assistant says stop 😊

[@gordonwilmot8733]

Stumbled across you yesterday because of a low clutch pedal and followed your instructions today and job done in 30 minutes big thankyou

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Great to hear!

[@johnnybizzle8657]

Thank you sir! Very helpful content as always!

[@BritannicaRestorations]

My pleasure!

[@davidsingleton7242]

Hi Mike I've just had to replace the Clutch Master cylinder on my RHD (UK) 200TDI 110 and had the most awful job trying to get the air out of the system. Eventually I realized that the slave cylinder had been fitted with the bleed nipple at the bottom. Removed the cylinder and replaced it the other way up and lo and behold a few minutes later gravity took over and all the air was pushed out and the clutch was perfect. So as usual you are correct and the orientation of the slave cylinder is important. On the 200TDI the slave is just above the exhaust pipe so i assume someone fitted it that way round to make it easier to get to the nipple. Thanks Mike your videos are really useful

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Glad I was helpful!

[@francisobrien7224]

Great vidio Mike. I have to replace my master cylinder and slave cylinder on my 1975 swb series 3 rhd and was dreading having to bleed the system, so now its gravity bleeding for me. Thank you.

[@mauricebarnett6951]

I did this on my Disco 2, the garage fitted a new slave cylinder and could get it bled right, the clutch pedal was so floppy with the bite right at the bottom. I got it home cracked open the bleed nipple , let the fluid flow out and tighten it back up, job done

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Some garages eh?

[@mauricebarnett6951]

@@BritannicaRestorations yes indeed

[@thechod]

Just revisited mike, great help this video is, thank you

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Glad it helped!

[@TheSussexpillbox]

Gonna change my master and slave and the hose this week on the Wolf 90 HS. As it is LHD I think you need to take the servo off! which I hope to avoid - I will opt to take the wing off as I think that is easier. Whenever I have moved servos they always fail

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Two nuts off the master cylinder and move it to one side, inside the footwell, remove the bolts holding the brake tower on, and either push it to one side or take it out Simples

[@BigArch6564]

Cracking honest vlog Mike. Thanks again for sharing buddy.

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@yorkchris10]

I had a LHD and LH slave on my mgb and replaced the seals on the slave. The piston was worn like you said from acting on con-rod. It took forever to get the pressure up before bleeding. This was probably the only time I would have a completely drained hydraulic system. I see the error now.

[@davepearce6359]

Interesting, liking the syringe idea too. Thanks Mike. 😊👍🏻

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Very welcome

[@Landy_Bill_Ex_Mil]

Great video just what I need for my 200tdi Cheers!

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Great to hear!

[@gazzafloss]

Good tip for the bleeding Mike, I've used "gravity bleeding" on most of the brake jobs I've done, except for some of those under floor master cylinders, it works fine, takes more time but for me it's not a race and it saves me tearing out what hair I have left. Never "boiled" a brake system in my life but I hear it can be a bit of a faf when it happens...

[@BritannicaRestorations]

I was a passenger in a RR auto going down a very steep long hill with a D1 on the back - that boiled the fluid - pedal to the floor - pretty scary and we were ready to bail!

[@gazzafloss]

@@BritannicaRestorations was the RR fitted with the optional "ejector seats"..?

[@MikeRatcliffe24]

Another 1 man solution for bleeding the clutch on a 200tdi/similar that I find works well is to drill a hole in a old reservoir cap to around 3mm, set the compressor to a few psi and shove a blow gun in the hole, with the few psi applied crack the bleed screw on the slave cylinder until happy. Out of interest do you need to give the clutch a pump or two to get a siphon effect going with the gravity method for a fresh/dry system, as the bend in the hose/pipe immediately after the outlet goes just about as high as the reservoir rim/top. Note: Just re rear watched and you did give her a encouraging pump to overcome this.

[@rdflo6739]

Oooh rear drum brakes on the series 2 one tonne, dual slave cylinders on the front.. with the fancy single line brake line safely blocky thingy to separate the front brakes from the rear.. what a faff about that was... So difficult to get them to equal brake force left and right for the MOT..

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Good to know some things got better over the years!

[@tristanhagerty2006]

I’ve fitted LOF power master master cylinder whenever I’ve needed to replace the master and it makes the clutch as light as a feather. You should have a play with one. And have you ever clutch blead a puma.....you need more then patients and two hands for that! Cheers as always Mike

[@Rob-cz7lg]

How much lower did it make your clutch bite point? As I know they use a smaller cylinder

[@tristanhagerty2006]

@@Rob-cz7lg well you’ve got two options with the bite point. My tdci i fitted the power master master cylinder to and it didn’t really affect the biting point at all, just made it much lighter. And my td5 i fitted a power spring that LOF do and that too made it much lighter but made the biting point slightly higher and more sudden. Now I’m more used to it they’re both fantastic and made them so much easier to drive. The power master was about 50£ total and the spring was 25£ total. You can use both but I found that it makes the clutch too light and it dosent return as it should. It’s an either or thing really. Glad to help

[@Cozy109]

I've just fitted an LOF power master cylinder to a mates ex-MOD ninety. Definitely a big improvement, really well made product and not too pricey.

[@GregPalmer2]

l wish that would work for all land rovers,l remember trying to bleed my mates V8 County it took over a hour to get it working,saying that it was right hand drive with the slave on the passenger side bell housing and my land rover county has a remote booster which you got to bleed as well as the slave and don't forget to put the cap back on to stop dirt and mud getting in.

[@BritannicaRestorations]

2.5 NA are bad with the cylinder just above the exhaust

[@soulsurfer7541]

thanks, your videos have been a life saver to me, but, what did you mean wen you said at 6:26 " ...you got your pedal set wrong" , complements from Portugal.

[@davidcopeable]

Great video, thanks for sharing - I guess this would work on a 200tdi as well?

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Yes, but the slave bleed is a bugger to get at - I seem to recall when I had a 200Tdi, I made a pipe that screwed into the bleed port of the slave and then with a male fitting on the other end I fitted a connector and then a bleed screw - I could then bleed the clutch without going under the vehicle!

[@davidcopeable]

@@BritannicaRestorations Hahe, thanks - yup, it is a roight fiddle to undo the bleed screw, lying on a trolley, for sure but I managed it with a sleeve full of fluid dribbling down my arm lol

[@jonajames4526]

Maybe I am missing something, but the upward loop of the master clutch cyl.fluid exit pipe exceeds the reservoir..wWll, at least on my model (96 300tdi).. probably rebuilt at some stage.

[@BritannicaRestorations]

As long as the the exit is lower than the reservoir it will run with gravity

[@grahameroberts8109]

Good job Mike. I tried to decipher the Morse code message at the beginning of the vid but gave up. 😂👍🏻🙏🏽😷🦘

[@Simon78]

I noticed that in the last video haha.

[@BritannicaRestorations]

It's that horny woodpecker banging on a tin sheet! I may suggest Tinder....

[@grahameroberts8109]

@@BritannicaRestorations Actually it is a flickering fluorescent light I think. 💡😱

[@Defender110SLO]

If it would this way on D2. 🤪 Cheers Mike 🥃

[@peterpeterson9903]

Mike, which setups have the slave on the engine bay left, like this video? All my Defenders have always been engine bay right.

[@BritannicaRestorations]

The 300Tdi was in the right

[@es_defender110]

Thanks Mike, I’m going to go and do mine now! Would the gravity feed work the same on a Puma. Did it 3 years ago without removing pedal box but this time I’m going to remove and do it on the bench 👍🏻 Might even give it some paint and oil 😂

[@BritannicaRestorations]

It should

[@rossferguson3463]

Would this method work on a Discovery 1 (RHD) with the clutch damper thingy? It all flows down hill so I assume the fluid will still come out of the bleed nipple, but I have heard those dampers can be annoying to bleed properly.

[@BritannicaRestorations]

the dampers do next to nothing - make it into a Defender system

[@bigtone2005]

Hi I am trying to bleed the clutch on my 300 disco.. The pedal went to the flood whilst I was out I had to lift it with my foot then it worked for a bit then happened again and so on a difficult drive home with the bite near enuff on the floor but it made it under its own steam. Iv changed the master cylinder for a ap unit and slave cylinder for a trw but gravity bleeding isn't working its not even getting into the pipe and the pedal still hits down to the floor and stays there if I try to pursuade it. Have you any ideas of somthing I may be missing here next step will be reverse bleed with the oil can. Thanks

[@BritannicaRestorations]

The D1 master cylinder with a plastic reservoir is a nightmare to bleed - the pedal must be up - but you may need a bit of pressure to push the fluid through

[@bigtone2005]

@@BritannicaRestorations when you say pressure do you mean take up the free play on pedal or do you mean a eazibleed as I was advised not to use that on a dry system or is this bs?

[@Maedetto]

Hi Mike, I've tried your method just after replacing the master cylinder following your video. I blew air through the reservoir and checked that air was coming out the pipe outlet, so I think the adjustment is ok. However the pedal is always springing up and down, not pressurizing the oil. When depressing the pedal, it will spring to the floor (touching it) and wont come back up. Same when pulling it by hand back up, it springs up and stays there. Any idea of what could it be? Thanks

[@BritannicaRestorations]

You must have the later pedal set up - these are problematic to bleed as the spring goes over center and locks at the bottom - the easy way is to get the pedal to the top, fill the master and just lightly pump the pedal by hand but only go half way Keep checking the level regular and once flow is established you can gravity bleed, but keep an eye on the level!!!

[@Maedetto]

@@BritannicaRestorations Thanks Mike! Mine is a 96 TDI, k forgot to mention. I have followed your instructions and the pedal has now pressure. Legend! I have to admit that i haven't been driving it for a while as it went through a restoration. It's not quite ready yet to be driven either so it will have to wait. The pedal feels like has a fair bit of play/not engaging for the first half, the second half is definitely feeling right. Do you know where to find how it is supposed to be? Do you think i should second guess my nuts adjustments? Thank you so much!

[@globalexplorer4582]

Great videos sir. However, I have tried me darndest to both gravity bleed, and reverse bleed my 83 Camel Trophy LHD Defender. I replaced the clutch slave unit. Still cannot get it to feed fluid up into it from oil can. There is no sign that the master was leaking. I removed the inspection plate and all was dry. I still have no clutch. I pumped that peddle a hundred times and nothing. I am stumped. I have a new master, and it will be a bear to replace as I need to remove the brake booster and tower. However, if I try to loosen the clutch pipe, its twisting with the nut. AAARGH. Any suggestions what I am doing wrong?

[@NoName-hh5pn]

AFT DEXTRON 2? For power steering?

[@BritannicaRestorations]

I use Dextron 3

[@vincentpoole7588]

Mike. So is it possible to use plain water or salt water to work as the clutch fluid ? It'll get warm near an exhaust manifold, attract moisture less contamination ! V.

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Wil be seized solid in a week

[@Thatredneck]

Issue I'm having on my discovery Mike is I'm non stop having to bleed my clutch its somehow getting air into the system but when pumping the clutch I can't find any leaks 🤔

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Clamp the flexible hose - if the pedal still goes down it's the master at fault

[@Thatredneck]

@BritannicaRestorations I'll do that now but how come I've got a leak on the slave? It's odd it gets wet but no idea where from and haven't found a leak 😂

[@DerRumaene]

I just tried this on my 300tdi 90 but couldn't even open the bleed screw. Was I right using it a 11mm socket or is it a metric screw? Thanks!

[@BritannicaRestorations]

depends on the manufacture - I have seen 10mm screws

[@rustandoil]

Shame this won't work on my TD5 😢

[@lukeevans9698]

Mike, I wish you'd do a video on bleeding LHD clutch systems. Gravity bleed doesn't work because the line loops up above the engine before dropping down to the slave. The line thus runs substantially above the level of the reservoir, and this upper loop can trap air that can be really difficult to get out. Any suggestions to make it easier for us LHD folks?

[@BritannicaRestorations]

Yes it does work - you just have to pump the pedal a few times if the line is completely empty - once a bit of fluid comes out of the slave it will flow by itself - easy

[@spookythecat3055]

​@@BritannicaRestorationsnot so easy when you have a left hand driver plus slave damper, it seems to never be able to fush the bubble

[@mickpospiech1363]

Coat in the wash Mike?

[@BritannicaRestorations]

30c - day off!

[@andrewmawson6897]

That's a dodgy windscreen rubber Mike - cracks all round the corner !

[@BritannicaRestorations]

That is on the to do list...