Triumph Repair: tr6 clutch master problem, dot 4 brake fluid, clutch system

Question
Hi,
I recently bought a 1976 tr6 with 28000 orig. miles and It hadent ran since the 80's, I got it running perfect in a couple of days, but I cannot get any pressure on the clutch pedal, ive cleaned out the slave and cleaned the master but still not pressure after bleeding. there is no fluid going through the line from the master. what could the problem be I cannot remove the stem could that be it?

Thanking you,
dex

Answer
Hi Dex,
The master cylinder is just a pump that pushes fluid down to the slave cylinder. It is however, difficult sometimes to bleed the system. Also you MUST use Dot 4 brake fluid as Dot 3 will destroy the seals in both the master and slave. If you have Dot 3 in it now drain it all out and reclean the system and lube all of the parts with Dot 4 fluid. and reassemble. Then do as follows.

Remove the fluid line at the master cylinder and put rags or a tin under the open port. Pour some Dot 4 fluid into the master cylinder. Fluid should run out of the open port. If it does not, check to see that the clutch pedal is not stuck down a little. If the pedal is all the way back. If no fluid will run through then you need to pull the master cylinder off again and take it apart to see what is wrong.

You say "Stem", what stem are you referring to? Are you talking about the operating rod in the master cylinder? That is held in place by a wire clip under the rubber boot.

When the system is working, you can put fluid in the master cylinder and open the bleeder on the slave cylinder and fluid will (slowly) migrate down the line to the slave cylinder and run out of the slave cylinder bleeder valve.

A clutch system is difficult to bleed like brakes because the clutch line is so large an air bubble can go down a little when you open the bleeder and when you close the bleeder and pump up the pedal to get another attempt to bleed the air bubble can migrate up the line. Thus you can bleed all day long and never get the air out.
There are several ways to get around this. A pressure bleeder works best but that is usually only available at shops. Some mechanics use a "reverse bleed" process where you first open the bleeder valve and leave a pan under the car and wait for drips to show up from the bleeder valve and close the valve, then they remove the slave cylinder from the bell housing and with a Philips screw driver force the slave cylinder piston all the way back into it's bore. This forces any air in the line back up into the master cylinder reservoir. Then they put the slave cylinder back into the bell housing and SLOWLY push the clutch pedal down and let it up very slowly and push it down again so as to pump the slave piston out to contact the operating rod in the bell housing. That usually does the job of bleeding. I have on many occasions been able to watch for a drip and close the bleeder valve and it is done then.
Let me know how you make out.
Howard