How do you bleed the hydraulic clutch system ?

I changed out the factory clutch hose, for a braided s/s one. Got underneath to bleed the system.
There's no nipple on the slave cylinder to bleed the air out of the hose.

I pumped the pedal over 200 times. Clutch engagement was perfect. Next day, I barely lifted my foot off the pedal, and the car jumped forward. After pumping 20 times, it was alright.

What is the proper way of bleeding the clutch ?

I installed a Steeda braided line and followed the Ford factory bleeding process. I have to look it up again, but I remember buying a vacuum pump and rubber stopper. Drilled a hole into the stopper and attach the vacuum hose to it. Attached rubber stopper to the brake reservoir and vacuum pressure up to 20 psi. Then hold and wait 2-4 minutes (I think?), and release pressure. Then pump clutch pedal 10-15 times or until firm. Then repeat the process 4 more times and I was good to go.

I hear the system is "self-bleeding" and what you did (pumping a gazillion times) will air raid the system or something. So I ended up follow Ford's recommended way lol. Will post some more info for you when I find it.

OK found it, hold pressure of 15-20 psi for 1 minute. Release and pump clutch pedal 10 to 12 times or until clutch is positive and consistent. Then repeat additional times until it is all good. I repeated about 7 times to make sure mines was good and have not had an issue since (but only been 200 miles since I did it lol).

Mootang said:

OK found it, hold pressure of 15-20 psi for 1 minute. Release and pump clutch pedal 10 to 12 times or until clutch is positive and consistent. Then repeat additional times until it is all good. I repeated about 7 times to make sure mines was good and have not had an issue since (but only been 200 miles since I did it lol).

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This is interesting i had only heard of the pump a gazillion times method.. lol which is what i did in my 2012 mustang but not sure if the new ones are different

Angry50 said:

This is interesting i had only heard of the pump a gazillion times method.. lol which is what i did in my 2012 mustang but not sure if the new ones are different

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I too heard of the pumping thing, but for these models it is different. Even CJ Pony videos said to pump it a 100+ times. Due to rules and copyright, I can't post the pdf here unfortunately. I think another thread on here may have someone else risking it though lol. May still be available for download I think.

Thanks for the information !
I'll looking for the hand held vacuum pump, hose & rubber stopper.
It'll make life a lot easier to perform this maintenance procedure.

I got the vacuum from Amazon, Mityvac MV8000 Automotive Test and Bleeding Kit. The rubber stopper was also from Amazon (3 Pack - CleverDelights Solid Rubber Stoppers - Size 8 - 41mm x 33mm - 25mm Long - Lab Scientific #8). Drilled a hole and I was ll setup lol.

Henry -

Thank you ! You just my life a whole lot easier. It is much appreciated.

Why Ford didn't put a bleed nipple at the slave cylinder to make this easier to do ?...
I suppose they wanted owners to bring their cars to the dealership, to Charge them for the service.

Pumping the pedal will still adequately bleed the hydraulic system. The design of the system has not changed since the hydraulic clutch was first implemented in the '11MY and probably earlier. The vacuum method is just quicker. Having to pump the pedal again the next day is typical.

buggy whip said:

Henry -

Thank you ! You just my life a whole lot easier. It is much appreciated.

Why Ford didn't put a bleed nipple at the slave cylinder to make this easier to do ?...
I suppose they wanted owners to bring their cars to the dealership, to Charge them for the service.

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Yup, no problem. IDK why Ford do some things that makes no sense sometimes.

Grimace427 said:

Pumping the pedal will still adequately bleed the hydraulic system. The design of the system has not changed since the hydraulic clutch was first implemented in the '11MY and probably earlier. The vacuum method is just quicker. Having to pump the pedal again the next day is typical.

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There we go, looks like both methods are good lol.

I just used the pumping the pedal method when I did the clutch on mine. I think it 500+ pumps. The first hundred plus I used my arm to cycle the pedal because it would just stay on the floor until pulled back up. My buddy and I took turns with breaks in between pumping it.

Also I think it helps to let it sit and let the air make its way back up. Make sure the pedal is all the way up as well. After the first time driving it it was still weak at the top of the stroke from the air but quickly purged itself.

I was talking with the technician at the dealership today, and asked about bleeding the system of air.
He told me that the slave cylinder is attached at a slight angle. He suggested to raise the rear end of the car above being level. Then pump the clutch pedal, to get the air out of the line. Otherwise, with that tiny space in the cylinder, air will remain inside.
But, with the constant pumping of the pedal, the air bubble will work its way out of the line.
FWIW.

But, I'll still get the pump,stopped & hose to bleed the system completely.

I also did the pump a gazillion time method...then my brain was telling me it didn't feel like normal for the next week or so.... Now I don't even think about it any more...ALL GOOD..

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

Resurrecting this: How did any of you get your clutch fluid out when bleeding brakes? I just did my brakes a couple weeks ago, but the clutch line still almost certainly has mostly old fluid in it. Turkey baster? Pull the line at the trans and then re-bleed? Syringe to suck it out?