Thats a good video, thanks


A while back someone posted how they used a grease gun instead of a pump can, which might be the way to go except it takes two hands. Its hard to find a decent pump can, seems most of what you see now is cheap junk. The first one I tried from HF leaked like crazy. This way sure beats dealing with two different size bleed nipples and tiny hose clamps.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

I've been useing the oil pump can bleeding method for over 30 years. It is almost fool proof. The hardest thing is finding a good oil pump can that has a large enough capacity. If you run out of fluid during the bleed, you end up pumpinig air into the lines. This usually only happens when you are pumping a lot of fluid into long brake lines. I have even bled brake lines on aircraft this way. Good Luck!

I spent allot of time getting the brake slave to clutch slave method down but it only took one time with the squirt can to see thats the way to go, sooo much easier and, yes, apparently pretty fool proof.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Update: took it in this morning. The shop owner showed me the part that he was going to install. Definitely OEM. The "seal" (dust boot?) at the end had a little crease at the edge, but otherwise it looked good.

Got the car back this evening and the clutch works well. Engages right at the middle of the travel range, a bit of free play near the top but not excessive. Hope this repair holds, and kudos to United for standing behind their work.

Yes it is great to hear they stand behind their work. Sure beats a pile of manure situation that is all too common now. Kind of sad when manufacturers cannot manufacture a simple slave cylinder properly though. Your prior part was obviously defective from the start.

Glad to hear it worked out well. I ended up junking my 240D when I made the mistake of attempting to do clutch repair etc.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

^^^

I'm thinking of doing so, or at least going to work on the car with a fire axe.

Didn't drive it for a few weeks, and when I get in to drive it, the clutch is as limp as a sclerotic old man's love noodle. This after having the aforementioned mechanic replace the slave cylinder twice and the master at least once.

*PUNCHES THE WALL!* Well, back to the mechanic on Monday, and he's probably quite sick of the sight of the car.

For a car that is so otherwise dirt simple, this is a vexing problem.

Lately my daily drivers have been old VW diesels with foolproof manual cable clutches. I keep a spare in the trunk. If it breaks, ya don't need any tools and it's even hard to get dirty.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

I'm in the same boat. Replaced the master cylinder last summer with a proper German part, bled it out with the hose from the RF caliper, and was on m way again, and all was happy, more or less, for a couple of months, and then it went soft again. Bled it back, fine for a while, then back to bad again. Took out the slave and realized it was leaking, so replaced that with a new, OEM part, too. Since then, I have bled this stupid thing out again about every 6-8 weeks or so, can't find any visible leaks, but it always goes soft again in a pretty short time frame. Getting ready to go out there and tackle it again today, this time I'm taking everything apart and looking really closely for leaks.

Aside from troubleshooting an electrical/FI problem on an old Saab 99, this has been the most vexing and frustrating mechanical problem I've had to deal with in 30 years of working on cars! So much about this car is so straightforward, but this stupid clutch bleeding thing has me pulling my hair out.

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1976 Mercedes 240D, unknown mileage
1992 Dodge/Cummins 4WD, 284k

Wow, this is a new one on me, thanks for the updates. I will be most interested in the outcome.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

OK, just got done tearing mine all apart this time, and sure enough, there was evidence of slight leakage inside the boot of the master cylinder, even though it's only ten months old. There wasn't enough to leak past the boot and show anywhere outside of the cylinder, and not enough to visibly lower the fluid level, but clearly enough to get air inside.

I took the MC apart, and cleaned and rinsed it inside with clean brake fluid. You can see a little wear on the cylinder walls already. I also changed out the pushrod for the longer of the two, which more closely matches what was in there to begin with. I did that repair on the road, 600 miles from home and the internet, and was having a hard time fitting the long pushrod for some reason, so I used the shorter one.

I bled it up again, with the caliper, and now it's a working clutch again, although it releases pretty close to the floor. Clearly, I'm going to need another MC soon. And then I'll get to bleed it all over again.... :-(

Is there a place I can get just a rebuild kit for this MC? I can certainly hone it out and put new rubber in it, and I would rather do that than cough up for a whole new MC again.

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1976 Mercedes 240D, unknown mileage
1992 Dodge/Cummins 4WD, 284k

I haven't checked it out but I understand that the M/S rebuild kit costs just about as much as a new M/S. I had a problem with a push rod once. I changed the clutch M/S but left the old push rod, it looked fine, but the clutch didn't work. Turns out the new M/S was a different brand and the push rod was a different length. Dont know if that relates to your problem.

Glad your back on the road.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

The clutch did work initially when he repaired it. He replaced the cylinders, and the engagement point was dead-bang in the middle of travel, as it should be.

I'm having him re-do the job this Friday.
(1) New master -- under warranty
(2) New slave -- under warranty
(3) New metal pipe and rubber crossover hose -- ~$120
(4) New hose going from the tank to the fluid nipp on the master
(5) Pressure bleed the living bejeebers out of everything with fresh fluid, and I should have a new hyd system

At present the slave isn't leaking, and the clutch gets soft basically only in very hot weather (or fluid boiling?). Which points to internal leakage in the master's seals. But I'm having him re-do everything including the hyd line for peace of mind.

well, back at it again. couldn't find a rebuild kit for this thing, so I bought ANOTHER new MC, and just put it in today. Jacked up the front of the car, crawled underneath, did the whole hose between the RF caliper and the slave thing, had my wife pumping the brake pedal for a a while until the clutch pedal felt nice and firm. Put all the tools away, let the jack down, hopped in and the pedal was mushy.... ! Within the next few minutes, it was so mushy as to be useless again.

I'm starting to think that this stupid thing actually needs all four corners to be up on jack stands to do this job, like having just the front end up lets air stay trapped somewhere until you let it down.

I had to come in for a break before I can bear to look at it again, I'm so, so, so sick of doing this job. And I'm supposed to be leaving in MY car for a week tomorrow morning for a backpacking trip, but if I can't get this stupid 240D fixed, I'm going to have to give my car to my wife, and stay home and work on this until I get it fixed. Arg!

Again, this is absolutely the most frustrating mechanical problem I have EVER been plagued with.


UPDATE:

I went back out and this time jacked and blocked BOTH ends of the car up in the air so it sat level. When I cracked open the slave, there was a hiss of air coming out of it without any pressure on either pedal. Bled it out again, several rounds of pumping and checking, and now it's as tight as it's ever been. So, if you're reading this someday, and having the same troubles, try jacking the car up so it's level while you bleed it, and see it helps. I should have known, I had the same problem when I was bleeding the brakes, too, until I lifted all four wheels up to be level. Whew! Looks like I get to keep my car this week after all...

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1976 Mercedes 240D, unknown mileage
1992 Dodge/Cummins 4WD, 284k