Clutch Gravity Bleed

This is the first time I have used this technique which was quick and easy once I had my car on ramps ……. and it worked.

Bleeding the clutch on the MGB is notoriously a tricky job, many owners – including myself – have spent many hours trying to successfully bleed the hydraulics system. I’ve tried all sorts of methods and equipment which have given different levels of success. This was not a full bleed from scratch but where the clutch has got progressively closer to the floor until it would not disengage.

From under the car I removed the pivot pin from the clutch actuator fork and put a cable tie through the hole. I pushed the clutch push rod right into the slave cylinder as far as it will go and fastened it with the cable tie. This minimises the space inside the slave cylinder for any air to hide. Then loosen the bleed nipple and let the fluid flow out under gravity into a container. Quite a bit of air came out initially but when the flow steadied I closed the nipple. Reconnected the push rod to the fork and could tell straight away when I pressed the clutch pedal that it was right.

Just a word of warning that when you push the food into the slave cylinder make sure the matter cylinder reservoir does not overflow. Also before you release the cable tie make sure the reservoir is full otherwise air will get in.