I believe there is still an airlock in the master cylinder?

2000 DODGE DAKOTA

170,000 MILES • V8 • 4WD • MANUAL

ESANDE

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I have a truck as above and the hose attachment for the slave cylinder on the clutch failed. I replaced the slave cylinder, filling it up with brake fluid, and pumping several cups of brake fluid through the system to purge air (as per installation instructions). I believe there is still an airlock in the master cylinder that is only marginally allowing my clutch to disengage with the pedal to the floor boards. There does not appear to be any bleed devices on either cylinder.
Do you have any suggestions as to how to purge the remaining air?

Eric Sander

Oct 1, 2008 at 10:25 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

CAR REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
110,190 POSTS

HI:

The master cylinder and slave cylinder are replaced as a unit and are not designed to be repaired or bled. The replacement unit will come bled from the factory.

It may be possible to fill each component separately. Disassemble the slave cylinder by pulling the rod out of the cylinder. Remove the spiral retaining ring and seal unit below and fill it with fluid. Then reassemble. This will only remove the air from the slave cylinder. While the slave cylinder is removed, you could mostly bleed the master cylinder and line by keeping the reservoir full, pumping the pedal while holding the line outlet pointing up. Then carefully reattach the slave cylinder. Of course, it is still possible that you would still have some air in the system after all this hard work!

Note: Do not press the clutch pedal with the system attached while the slave cylinder is not mounted on the transmission! With fluid in the system, it will cause the slave cylinder rod and all it's parts to shoot out. This will most likely damage the spiral retaining ring and cause a new headache.

Check out the images (Below). Please let us know if you need anything else to get the problem fixed.

Images (Click to enlarge)

Oct 22, 2008 at 6:16 PM

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