My clutch went out on my 98 Dodge Ram 2500 4WD the other day. I limped it home shifting like a big truck timing the shifts w/out the clutch. I replaced the slave cylinder w/ an aftermarket that had a bleeder. Bled it and got the pedal back up and it still wouldn’t disengage the clutch. I replaced the master cylinder and started getting pedal back until I let the reservoir get too low and now after plenty of tries, I can’t get any pressure built. I get a stream of fluid, but no air. Bench bleed the master and start over? I’m at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I had that problem once and solved it by using one of those one-person bleeders, a one-way valve attached to the valve and immersed in fluid. Even with two people I couldn’t get the air out manually.
The air is staying in the pipe rather than going down to the SC.
You could also use a pressurized brake bleeder with the appropriate adapter for the clutch reservoir.
I had a problem like this with a brake master cylinder that I solved by bench bleeding it first. Did the instructions that came with the replacement say to bench bleed it first? Some of them are configured so it is impossible to get the air out installed on the car, as the angle isn’t right. You have to put it in a bench vise and measure it with a level to get it just the right angle, then the bleeding is able to get the air out. If the instructions recommended bench bleeding, that’s probably the next step. You could just have the bad luck to have got bad one at the parts shop place though. Or the bleeding you’ve done already has damaged a piston seal.
I had good luck bleeding the brakes after doing the bench bleed thing, just by pressing on the brake pedal with a helper opening and closing the screw at the wheel cyliner, but I avoid pushing the pedal all the way to the floor so as to avoid damaging the piston seals.
As far as I know, all clutch masters and brake masters need to be bench bled before installing.
Bench bleeding is such an easy thing to do, what does it take, 15 minutes max? So it’s probably best to do it even if it isn’t required by the parts vendor. It’s very time consuming to have everything put back together and all the leaks fixed only to find the brake pedal is still spongey or the clutch pedal is not disengaging the clutch properly.