MG Car Repair: CLutch problem 1973 MG Midget, clutch master cylinder, bleeder valve

Question
I went to start up my Midget after the winter and it started up but the clutch will not engage and I can't get into gear.  I looked in the clutch master cylinder reservoir and it was low.  Topped it off (DOT 4) and pumped the clutch a bunch.  It does not seem to be lowering so I am not sure if there is a leak or if it is caused by air in the system?  I see a lot of advice to bleed the system.  I have never done that and I am not sure where to start.  Do I bleed from the Master or the slave?  If I am correct the slave is under the car?  

Sorry my abilities at this point are replacing batteries and lights.  I am trying to do more of the simple stuff myself before flat bedding it to a mechanic.

Thanks for your help.

Ari

Answer
Hi Ari,
First with your hand, push the clutch pedal down and note that it has about one inch of free travel and then the pedal is hard to push right away and has that amount of resistance all the way to th floor. If After the free play is taken up, the pedal is soft and starts out easy to push and only get hard further down then it probably does have air in the system and needs to be bled. The bleeder valve is on the slave cylinder under the car.

If the pedal is hard to push as soon as the free play is taken up then it is no use bleeding. The problem is most likely that the disk is stuck to either the flywheel or pressure plate and needs to be broke loose.

If this is the case, There are several methods to do this. Some mechanics just put the car in 4th gear with the brake on and depress the clutch pedal to the floor and hit the starter. I don't use this method as it is dangerous to the car as I have seen mechanics do damage to the starter using this method.

I prefer to put the car in 4th gear with the brake off and have someone hold the clutch pedal to the floor and I rock the car forward and back as hard as I can and sometimes get someone to help rock the car. Sometimes this will break one loose.

I have another method that I have used but it requires some driving skill to do. One dealership that I worked at was on a straight highway, so I would start the engine and warm it up and shut it down and put it in 1st gear and start the engine and speed up and level off on the throttle  and pull it into neutral and lower the RPM to what I feel is the right RPM for the speed I am going and pull it into 2nd and speed up and level off and put it in neutral again and repeat the process until I am in 4th gear and at about 3500 RPM (max torque)and hold the clutch pedal down and open and close the throttle several times. The maximum load on a clutch disk is in 4th gear and the maximum torque from the engine is at about 3500 RPM. If this don't break one loose then the only way to correct it is to remove the engine to access the clutch.
Howard
Howard