Bleed clutch without removing front motor mount?

mossberg · May 18, 2018

2001 I4 MT
I'm looking to replace flush the clutch fluid (it's still using the original fluid) - I figure after 17 years, I should probably take care of this.

Here's a pic of the clutch slave cylinder. Not a lot of room around that bleeder nipple. Have you guys been able to get a wrench on the bleeder and a hose on the nipple without removing the front motor mount?

Anyone know offhand what size wrench the bleeder takes? 8mm maybe?

LAEGER525R · May 24, 2018

I just replaced the slave cylinder & bled it with the mount in place. A few weeks later I had to replace the master cylinder & rebleed the entire system again. This time I removed the mount & it made the job so much easier.

Yes it an 8mm wrench & you can leave the mount in place but it will be much easier if you remove it.

Nam1911a1 · May 24, 2018

It is not hard to remove that engine mount. Takes less than five minutes and it will save you much more than 5 minutes of trouble.

mossberg · May 25, 2018

LAEGER525R said:
I just replaced the slave cylinder & bled it with the mount in place. A few weeks later I had to replace the master cylinder & rebleed the entire system again. This time I removed the mount & it made the job so much easier.

Yes it an 8mm wrench & you can leave the mount in place but it will be much easier if you remove it.

Nam1911a1 said:
It is not hard to remove that engine mount. Takes less than five minutes and it will save you much more than 5 minutes of trouble.

You guys are right - removing at least the upper portion of the front engine mount (the part that attaches to the engine block), would make for much easier access.

As it turns out, there's some kind of blockage in the slave cylinder. Even with the bleeder screw completely removed, there was no fluid coming out of the bleeder hole and no air was getting in. Fluid is getting to the push rod just fine. So I decided to skip bleeding, since it would require replacing the slave cylinder or at least removing it and seeing if I could remove the internal blockage. Instead, I just drained and filled the master cylinder reservoir.

LAEGER525R said:
Yes it an 8mm wrench

Were you able to find a ratcheting wrench small enough to fit given how close the bolt securing the clutch line is to the bleeder screw? Or did you just use a regular 8mm wrench combined with the extra room after removing the front motor mount?

LAEGER525R · May 28, 2018

mossberg said:
You guys are right - removing at least the upper portion of the front engine mount (the part that attaches to the engine block), would make for much easier access.

As it turns out, there's some kind of blockage in the slave cylinder. Even with the bleeder screw completely removed, there was no fluid coming out of the bleeder hole and no air was getting in. Fluid is getting to the push rod just fine. So I decided to skip bleeding, since it would require replacing the slave cylinder or at least removing it and seeing if I could remove the internal blockage. Instead, I just drained and filled the master cylinder reservoir.

Were you able to find a ratcheting wrench small enough to fit given how close the bolt securing the clutch line is to the bleeder screw? Or did you just use a regular 8mm wrench combined with the extra room after removing the front motor mount?

I just used the regular 8mm.