I screwed up this morning and let air into my clutch line today. I was bleeding the clutch and for some reason I opened up the brake reservoir instead of the clutch. By the time I figure out what I had done, I had already let air into the system. I tried raising the front of the truck up as much as I could to compensate for the downward sloping master cylinder while bleeding, but I never could get pedal again. If I can get some help, I may be able to get the truck turned around in the driveway, so the truck is pointed up hill a bit and try lifting the front of the truck again, but I'm not convinced I will get it high enough to level out the main reservoir. I have searched YouTube as well and see you can pull the reservoir, master cylinder and clutch line out as an assembly to "burp" the air from the reservoir down to the slave connection, but I'm trying to avoid this route.

I see a reverse brake bleeder tool on Amazon. The tool "pushes the fluid up from slave, up to the reservoir. It appears this may work. Has anyone tried this method on a Ranger clutch system and if not, do you think it will work?

Thanks,
Bernie

 

You could try that but I would just build a gravity bleeder, get a long clear plastic hose that fits snuggly over the bleeder on the slave
Also get a funnel that fits in that same clear hose

Mount the funnel higher than the Clutch reservoir

Attach hose to bleeder
Put brake fluid in the funnel and hose, there will be air in it
Remove reservoir cap and air cup
Get under the truck with catch bowl and pull the hose off the bleeder to let the air out and fluid to flow, pinch it off and open bleeder, put hose on the bleeder

Get up to funnel and add fluid as needed
Air should flow out at reservoir, when fluid starts to flow, won't take long, get under truck to close bleeder, also take brake fluid container with you and drain remaining fluid into the contaner

Brake fluid WILL ruin Paint, not might WILL, so be careful with it

When the clutch pedal is up all the way the reservoir is connected to the slave, thats how the power bleeder and gravity bleeder works
When you push down the clutch pedal the Masters piston slides forward and cuts off the reservoirs connection

 

Are you saying that the gravity feed from above the reservoir will "push" fluid down through the slave, up to the master and push air out of the master and up to the reservoir? I thought that the downward pointing master cylinder would still leave air trapped and the fluid would simply pass by this "air trap". Have you performed this with success? I'm only asking to clarify if this is theory or based on personal experience. It's raining outside this afternoon, so I won't get back to it until the morning.

Based on your recommended approach, it sounds like I have to simply setup a "DOT 3 IV" from the just under the raised hood (well above the reservoir height) and watch carefully to make sure I don't let the fluid overflow the reservoir. In fact, it sounds like I should pull a little fluid out of the reservoir prior to starting the bleed, to allow room for the rising fluid. Is this correct?

Thanks,
Bernie

 

Gravity bleed would be the same as the power bleed, just no "power" needed

Yes, its hard to get rid of the air in the master because of the angle, but either above method does the same thing, pulling out the master and putting it at a downward angle would be the next step if these methods didn't work

 

Well, I got a break from the rain and took a stab at the gravity bleed.......better, but not good enough. I will tackle the master removal or "repositioning" in the morning. If possible, I hope to disconnect it from inside the cab and pull it out enough to angle it upward and then bleed it again.

Maybe if I had not skipped my cup of coffee that morning, I wouldn't have made such a bonehead mistake in the first place?

BJ

 

The pushrod shouldn't disconnect from the Master, it's locked in place in the Master, not ment to be removed once its installed, unbolt the pushrod from the pedal

 

Understood. I intend to leave the pushrod installed. I have watched multiple YouTube videos on the subject. I may not even pull it all the way through the firewall. I only plan to pull it far enough to get the proper angle on the body and eliminate the air trap. I sure hope this works. This is a job that should have been 20 minutes........not days. A true lessons learned about attention to detail.

BJ

 

"We learn more from our failures, than we do from our success's"

And some think I am a smart guy..........................................so LOTS AND LOTS of FAILURES, and I was there for every one of them, so I know that this is TRUE, lol

Oiled the squeaking brakes on my first car.....................oops
Ruined a fresh rebuilt automatic on my first trans swap................oops

You don't need to go to college to spend alot on an education, lol

 

I'm happy to report that my Ranger is back on the road. In fact, this was the last item on my to-do list on the truck. Once I got the master pulled out and angled up, I was able to get the remaining air out. I figured I would take a few pics for the benefit of others who find themselves in the same situation:

One pic is of the syringe - I used it to pull fluid out of the reservoir as the fluid came up from below. I filled and refilled 3 times. I tapped on the master and hydraulic lines with a wrench to assist with freeing up air bubbles.
Another pic of the master cylinder with it pulled out of the firewall and tilted up (This is view from beside the tire, with the wheel well splash guard dropped down) I kept it inline and never disconnected it.
The last pic is of the bottle used to hold new fluid up higher than the stock reservoir. This bottle was convenient because it had a shutoff valve.

This goof ended up costing me around $10 in fluid, tubing and one plastic rivet for the trim. Fortunately, the labor was "free".

BJ

 

Good work

Thanks for the How-to and update

You can use the gravity bleeder on brakes as well
But you do it a little differently, well I do, lol
Take cap off master, brake master, lol, sorry couldn't resist

Put gravity bleeder hose on bleeder valve of slave or caliper, and open it
Push brake pedal down and hold it down, any air in the new slave or caliper will come out and slowly rise up thru the fluid in the clear tube
Then slowly let brake pedal come back up and new fluid will be sucked back in, not the air.
Tighten bleeder