Clutch bleeding nightmare! Clutch pedal won't budge.

bchengwa · Jun 24, 2008

It's certainly been a very interesting week trying to bleed the clutch on my 1998 528;
- Took the slave cylinder out and bled it the first time using the Bavarian tool. Everything seemed fine with no more air bubbles. Reinstalled everything and tried to depress the clutch pedal. It seemed stiffer than normal but I thought that would be the normal feel after bleeding. Tried to apply a little more force and everything just snapped. Took out slave from transmission and the piston, boot and retaining ring are all missing. Ouch! Then clutch fluid starts dripping from the bell housing.
- So I figured I must have installed the slave incorrectly with the piston not in contact with the clutch fork. In any case, I would have to take down the transmission and remove those parts.
- So I bought a new slave, bled it manually this time by depressing he piston while opening the bleeder screw; then closing the bleeder screw and releasing the piston. Everything went fine. Reinstalled slave cylinder, making sure it fits in the clutch fork. Tried to depress the clutch pedal, this time by hand, but same thing. Stiff as a stick, would not even go down more than an inch.
I'm really scratching my head as to what's going on here. Does not seem to me to be in the hydraulics. But car was running just fine without any clutch issues until I did the bleed. Any input would be appreciated.

Ryan M · Jun 24, 2008

You took the slave cylinder off of the transmission to bleed it? I don't think I understand.

cn90 · Jun 24, 2008

Routine bleeding of clutch system is simple: unscrew the slave cylinder a few turns, let the fluid runs down by gravity into the collection bottle. That is all.

Why did you remove the slave cylinder when bleeding?

In my write-up for "CDV removal", the last pic shows the bleed screw toward the rear of the slave cylinder:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209031&highlight=cn90+cdv

RiceRiceBaby · Jul 2, 2008

whoah!

Hi. I'm having exactly the same problem with mine. Just installed a new clutch kit. Went to depress the clutch and found resistance. I pushed harder and the slave blew up in the bell housing along with hydraulic fluid. I'm guessing that I didn't install the slave correctly (pin not position properly), but now your post is scaring me. Did you figure out what the problem was? - RRB

RiceRiceBaby · Jul 2, 2008

btw

Forgot to tell you that you might not have to remove the tranny! I used a strong magnet and was able to move all the metal parts towards the opening and fished them out with a telescoping magnet. Took me about an hour but considering the work you have to do to remove the tranny, you should definitely give it a go. Good luck! -RRB

Chris540i6 · Jul 2, 2008

I can't see it being the slave's fault. You might have put the throw out bearing in backwards or messed up the shift fork somehow.

bchengwa · Jul 2, 2008

Too bad you're having this problem too. The tranny is already out, and I had to take it out. For some reason, the release lever and bearing got stuck and were not engaging the pressure plate when the clutch pedal was depressed. I think this might have happened when I was trying to drive the car on the car ramps to bleed the slave. It must have taken me a good 10 minutes trying this. Car worked fine before but after driving it on ramps and bleeding the slave, the pedal could not be depressed.
I doubt your problem is with the slave or hydaulics. I think you may be having the same problem too. The protruding sleeves on the release bearing have to be in an North-South (12-6) position and not in an East-West(9-9) position. What you can do is remove the slave and take a metal object and poke the release lever and see if it moves. That will give you a good indication.
The new clutch kit and flywheel are already installed and I'll be changing the rear transmission seals today. After that I'll put everything back in and see how it goes. I'll post an update after that.

bchengwa · Jul 13, 2008

I finished my clutch job and bled the slave cylinder one last time and everything is good to go. Car shifts noticeably better. Regarding the slave cylinder, my first problem was that I did not install it properly the first time. The piston was not aligned with the clutch lever, that's why it exploded in the bellhousing. The second time was installed properly but I was a little by shy about depressing the clutch pedal, I guess.
I have to say it was pretty confusing figuring out what the right parts where for the clutch kit. The Bentley manual said the car is equipped with the SAC kit but the one I bought from Luk did not have this SAC feature, which kind of made me freak out. I called Luk and asked them about this and their response was that they did not know why the car had a SAC clutch but that the non-SAC kit was the right one for the car, so I went with it.
I had a really tough time reinstalling the transmission to the back of the engine. I was really scared the clutch disk would get bent with all the twisting and turning I had to do but does not seem that way from the way the car drives. I ended up tightening one of the bolts on the top right of the transmission and using that as a pivot to spin the transmission around before it could sit properly.
I also had some problems replacing the transmission output flange seal. Actually I ended up not replacing it at all. After removing the 36mm nut, I could not remove the output flange with a puller so I just reinstalled the nut with thread locker. Pics below from left to right :

- New Luk Repset clutch kit. non-SAC
- Tranny with slave cylinder components.
- Rear crankshaft seal looked pretty good. I did not have to change that.
- Flywheel lock to tighten flywheel bolts. This worked really well.
- Old clutch kit. The disk looked pretty good but the flywheel was scored in several positions.
- New clutch installed and ready to go.
- Loosening output flange nut was easy but could not take out output flange. So just reinstalled the nut with threadlocker.

readyandwilling · Sep 20, 2009

I have just about completed an engine swap in my 540i/6. I thought I had it all done and ready to go I went to have my wife fire it up for me and when she pushed on the clutch pedal it went right to the floor and I heard a click sound. The pedal stayed on the floor. I assumed it was going to be something with the slave cylinder and sure enough when I pulled it off to have a look, the piston and rubber seal were MIA but the internal spring was still there. After much fishing around through the slave mounting hole I was able to recover the piston and rubber seal. Now what? Is the slave hooped? Can I put it back together? Will the brake fluid have contaminated the clutch disc?
I am thinking that when I installed it I did not get the piston aligned with the fork properly and when my wife pushed in the clutch it just exploded inside the tranny. I now have it all removed and can push on the clutch fork manually with my finger and do get some movement but I am not sure how much movement it should have normally. I do not want to install a new slave and have it all happen again.
Anyway in short if you guys can help answer my question it would sure be a big help.
1.Is the slave hooped?
2.Can I put it back together?
3.Will the brake fluid have contaminated the clutch disc?
4. How much movement should the clutch fork have when pushed manually through the slave hole?

Dworkin · Sep 20, 2009

The Bavauto clutch bleader has you take it out and bleed it. I didn't buy it, but bled it normally, using my power bleeder. I think the Bavauto tool holds in the lever, so there is a better bleed.

Clutch bleeding nightmare! Clutch pedal won't budge.

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