HELP! Clutch Slave Will Not Bleed! - The Ultimate Ducati Forum

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RedSubmarine

I have been trying and trying to get this dumb thing to bleed right. I've been using the method found here Ducati Suite- Clutch Slave Cylinder with no luck. I can't seem to get ANY fluid to go into the clutch line. Its seems like the master doesn't want to push anything through. Maybe it's blocked? I even tried sucking fluid down with no luck. For what it's worth, I don't have a bleeder banjo on the master, just the slave. I'd like to ride to work tomorrow in this beautiful weather but obviously can't without a working clutch... #1 · Mar 4, 2012 I have been trying and trying to get this dumb thing to bleed right. I've been using the method found here Ducati Suite- Clutch Slave Cylinder with no luck. I can't seem to get ANY fluid to go into the clutch line. Its seems like the master doesn't want to push anything through. Maybe it's blocked? I even tried sucking fluid down with no luck. For what it's worth, I don't have a bleeder banjo on the master, just the slave. I'd like to ride to work tomorrow in this beautiful weather but obviously can't without a working clutch... Sort by Oldest first Oldest first Newest first Most reactions #2 · Mar 4, 2012 Maybe the master needs bleeding first.If you are getting nothing through the pipe the thats your problem . Or its fcked #3 · Mar 4, 2012 Did you replace the slave cylinder? Did you dis-connect the brake line at the master cylinder? If so, you have a bunch of air in the line yet. #4 · Mar 4, 2012 As you are aware, the bleeder bolt is in the wrong place, down at the slave cylinder. The bleeder bolt should be at the high point in the system where the air bubble lodges. You can move the slave bleeder bolt to the master cylinder and move the master cylinder bolt to the slave cylinder.

Another trick is to bleed by loosening and tightening the banjo bolt at the master cylinder like you would if it was a bleeder bolt. You'll need lots of rags to catch the fluid discharge, but you can get the air out. Hydraulic fluid will damage painted surfaces so cover everything. #5 · Mar 5, 2012 Is the slave cylinder not mounted? The piston must be pushed in by the clutch rod before you bleed it. #6 · Mar 5, 2012 Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will try putting the bleeder banjo up top. The problem I've been having is this: I push in the slave cylinder and bubbles come out the top. That's good

But when I pull in the lever after pumping and loosen then tighten the bleeder screw, I can only get one "session" of air to come out. That's to say that no fluid gets sucked in after I bleed the air out. I'll try moving the bleeder though and see if that solves it. And Pacabada, I have a new slave cylinder and have disconnected the line from the master cylinder to empty the fluids. And I'm aware of the air I have left in the lines

#7 · Mar 5, 2012 If you are trying to bleed it while disconnected, the slave piston is not retracted at rest. When you install it, the piston is retracted by the clutch rod. Then you can bleed it, otherwise the cavity is filled after a pump or two and no fluid can get into the slave cylinder Sent from my Ally using Motorcycle.com App #8 · Mar 5, 2012 This is what I wrote in 2007, it still applies for bleeding a clutch Andrew...

Andrew said: Bleeding the clutch requires patience especially if you get air in the master-cylinder (or you replace the master-cylinder). I find the quickest way is to crack the line at the master-cylinder and pump until fluid leaks out then tighten the line. Obviously this is bad for paint-work so ensure the bike is wet first and wash any leaked fluid immediately. If fluid doesn't flow don't worry, the next step just takes longer. When bleeding you need to coordinate your process as follows: 1: Ensure bleed nipple at slave cylinder is closed but not tight 2: Fully squeeze clutch lever and hold. 3: Open bleed nipple wait 1 second (look for air escaping if possible) 4: Close bleed nipple 5: Release clutch lever 6: Tighten bleed nipple on slave cylinder Repeat steps 2 - 5 until clean fluid flows from the slave cylinder and all air is expunged. This might take some time though - as long as the fluid level is dropping in the reservoir you are making progress even thought it may not feel like it (don't let the fluid in the reservoir run out though). It's as simple as this: Andrew... Click to expand...

PS return the bleed nipple to the slave cylinder and either fit the slave cylinder to the bike, or manually push back the slave cylinder each time you open the bleed nipple. #9 · Mar 7, 2012 I tried all of the above for years and just got sick of the whole damn process. I now strap the clutch lever to the bar, and use one of these: STANLEY - Vacuum Tester / Brake Bleeding Kit (78224) It applies enough vacuum to the line to suck the air out, you just need to poor fluid in to the reservoir and re-pump the vacuum every now and then. It's more expensive than getting everything right and just pumping the m/c with the lever, but you'll be done in 15 minutes rather than swearing for hours. I use it for anything that has hydraulic lines. It also avoids leaking fluids as it nicely catches all the Corrosive nastiness in a little container, so you're not worrying about aiming a random tube at a jar. #12 · Aug 9, 2023

speckyradge said: I tried all of the above for years and just got sick of the whole damn process. I now strap the clutch lever to the bar, and use one of these: STANLEY - Vacuum Tester / Brake Bleeding Kit (78224) It applies enough vacuum to the line to suck the air out, you just need to poor fluid in to the reservoir and re-pump the vacuum every now and then. It's more expensive than getting everything right and just pumping the m/c with the lever, but you'll be done in 15 minutes rather than swearing for hours. I use it for anything that has hydraulic lines. It also avoids leaking fluids as it nicely catches all the Corrosive nastiness in a little container, so you're not worrying about aiming a random tube at a jar. Click to expand...

Hey bud I know I'm bringing up an old post, but I was curious what vacuum pump that you used, but that link is not longer valid. Any chance you could link to it again or to something similar? Thanks, Ed 0 Reply #10 · Mar 7, 2012 That's pretty cool actually. But I don't think I'll be needing it. I ended up just using the banjo bolt up top like a bleeder screw until I got some reaction out of the slave. Whole thing took about 20 minutes now that I knew what I was doing

Did have a problem with the new slave unfortunately, but I'll save that for another thread. #11 · Jun 12, 2020

RedSubmarine said: I have been trying and trying to get this dumb thing to bleed right. I've been using the method found here Ducati Suite- Clutch Slave Cylinder with no luck. I can't seem to get ANY fluid to go into the clutch line. Its seems like the master doesn't want to push anything through. Maybe it's blocked? I even tried sucking fluid down with no luck. For what it's worth, I don't have a bleeder banjo on the master, just the slave. I'd like to ride to work tomorrow in this beautiful weather but obviously can't without a working clutch... Click to expand...

This is an old thread, but I did find a quick and logical solution to this problem which I had also encountered on my 2002 743. Hopefully this will help others in a similar situation, regardless of model.. I found that by just removing the clutch lever itself with attached pushrod the master cylinder would allow an easy flow of fluid, just follow your usual bleeding procedure, and once finished replace the lever/pushrod and you will find all is good to go. I surmise that the master cylinder ports were obscured by the position of the piston, by removing the pushrod the ports are opened allowing fluid flow. No adjustment was needed regarding the pushrod afterwards (which is adjustable), all was functional straight away. #13 · Mar 7, 2024 This - after many hours of Mityvac and Stahlbus stress this was the last straw, wish it had been the first. The brembo stock clutch master just isn’t geared to an empty system with the lever on. Took the lever off and it flowed like the Amazon - finished 5 mins later. Bike is a 2019 V4R. 0 Reply #14 · Mar 7, 2024 Are you using after market levers ? A friend of mine had the same problem, we removed the aftermarket levers and put on the oem ones, problem solved. #15 · Mar 9, 2024 Nope OEM. Have used RCS Corsa Corta on brake side but clutch is OEM. Took the bike for a 2 hour ride today on a very hot day and clutch held up well. Also flushed with RBF 600 which no doubt helped. 0 Reply Insert Quotes Post Reply

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