Re: Hydraulic Clutches - Why the hardness, even when condition is good I have done brake bleeding before in other cars of mine so I had fair idea of what to do and what not to, so this may not be for everyone. Yes, shops will tell you to replace the clutch or other parts, but if you think you have been treating your clutch well, then dont listen to them, do the clutch bleed first.
No pics, unfortunately, but text alone will help if you read carefully.
In the reservoir the fluid was not dark but slightly brownish. But after bleeding, the old fluid collected in bottle was dark though. The new good fluid is transparent.
I had ordered Motul fluid online which is 500ml bottle. It covered 2 of my vehicles - Brio P and Ertiga D, clutch bleed only, no brakes. If you plan to do brakes also then you may need 2 bottles.
Honda requires 8mm rachet, Maruti required 11mm rachet for bleed screw. For Maruti Ertiga D, I had to remove the battery + battery base plate + partially remove the intake pipe also. For Honda P, nothing was removed. Maruti D is bit more difficult as there is less space in the engine bay, not sure about Maruti petrol.
1) First i drained fluid from the reservoir using syringe. The design of reservoir is such that syringe wont go all the way to the bottom, so i attached a thin plstic pipe on the syringe and was able to extract fluid completely. The hardware store gave me white aquaguard plastic pipe which is thinner and worked fine for me to attach on my syringe (should be no more than 8 inch long). For slave cylinder nipple I used regular rubber pipe, about 1/2 meter), both pipes from hardware store cost me only Rs 20. In our case pipe diameter for syringe may wary depending on design of the syringe you have.
Also, there is a filter on top of reservoir which you will need to remove by hand, only then you can insert the pipe deep in the reservoir .
(Note: I understand that you are not supposed to empty the reservoir as it can damage the master cylinder valve seals, but this was different - here i am only emptying the reservoir not the valves down there, so it is OK)
2) Now pour new fluid in the reservoir, keep the cap covered but open unless you plan to take long break for next step below.
Wipe any fluid you may have spilled anywhere on the car (brake fluid is corrosive)
3) Ask a friend to sit in the car. Attach the rubber pipe on the nipple on one end and other end of pipe should be in the bottle which should be placed on the floor under the engine bay. Remove the rubber cap and loosen the screw by 90 degrees from original position. Tell your friend to press the clutch, HOLD, do not release the clutch. Now tighten the screw, now RELEASE clutch. Open screw again, press clutch, hold, drain, tighten, release - Repeat until you see newer clear fluid in the pipe. If the helper release clutch without the screw tightened then it will suck air in - not good.
In total, you should consume approx 250ml of fluid (you may use remaining 250ml for brake bleed at a later day).
Very important: Make sure you place the bottle on the floor securely so that you dont spill and make a big mess, or use bottle that has wide base so it wont tip over.
Note: Do not throw away the dirty oil, its poisonous and will pollute your own ground water (cancer). Just save it in a bottle and give it to good shop whenever you get chance, PLEASE.
Result: Honda clutch now feels like brand new car, goes down like butter comes up like butter - feels consistent. For Maruti, being a Diesel it is not as good as petrol Honda clutch, but for a Diesel it is much better than before.
I could have done it at a shop, but I had a holiday and some free time + I feel more satisfying doing things like these myself. Also, this process requires patience which shops dont have these days. It shouldnt take more than an hour.
The key is to do preventive maintenance rather than waiting for a problem to emerge. 2-3 years is a good time. Timely replacement of fluid will give long life to both master and slave cylinder. If you are dong this after 5-6 years then it is possible your cylinders may have been already damaged.
This procedure only replenishes 50% of the system, you should also bleed brakes for 100% new fluid in the system. 4 wheels means it may take more time so I may just get it done outside sooner than later. For now, I am happy with my clutch!
Last edited by aerohit : 11th December 2017 at 21:01.
|