Hi all

I need to service my Nissan Almera this weekend and one of the tasks is to bleed the hydrolic clutch fluid.
Can anyone please give me the steps?
Is it just bleeding the old fluid out while pouring in the new fluid until it is all bleeded through the system?

Or is there a trick. Also, is DOT4 brakefluid the right fluid to use or is something else used.

Sorry, I know this is not Datsun related, but I rather ask you guys this info than a mechanic here in ZA.

To bleed the Hydraulic system you will need an assistant. Place your assistant in the car & you go to the clutch slave cylinder & place a suitable ring spanner on the bleeder nipple. Next, place a snug fitting length of PVC [plastic] tubing over the head of the bleeder nipple. The other end of this goes to a small bottle or jar [or whatever]

Tell your assistant to depress the clutch pedal to the floor.
Turn spanner a little to open the bleeder nipple.
When fluid flow stops, tighten nipple.
Tell assistant to lift foot.

Tell your assistant to press clutch pedal to the floor.
Turn spanner a little to open the bleeder nipple.
When fluid flow stops, tighten nipple.
Tell assistant to lift foot.

Repeat a few times. Check fluid level in the resevoir. Top up as necessary.

Repeat procedure untill clean fluid appears in the PVC tube.

Secure the nipple,
Remove PVC tube.
Remove Spanner.
Top up fluid level as required.
Dispose of old fluid properly.

what dodgeman said is correct, but i done all that myself,

as when u got the jar, u have fill it with fluid and fill the resoviour up to the top, u just pump stop pump stop, and once u see no more bubbles in the line, its finishd,

coz it wont suck up any bubbles along as u got fluid in the jar coz it will resuck that fluid up, so then u have tilme to get on ya ass and do the nut up

The only thing you forgot Dodgeman was to start at the furtherest point away from the master cyclinder, and work to the closest one.

You can buy self bleeder kits for that you can do them on your own, but it is still better to do it with a mate.

To make a self bleeder, just use a jar or bottle or whatever with a a cap, use the same tubing as dodgeman suggested but half fill the jar with fluid.

You crack the bleeder as described, with the unit all hooked up, then pump the pedal. After a few pumps, you can retighten the nipple.

Having fluid in a jar means that when you release the pedal, rather than air bieng sucked back in, fluid goes back in.

its handy when you are on your own, but its still better to use an offsider.

Or you can gravity bleed the system by opening the bleed nipple and letting ithe fluid drip into a container untill the clean (new) fluid appears, topping up the fluid as needed. when done tighten the nipple and pump the pedal to make sure you have a good pedal, crack the nipple once more and check for any air and then lock off. Top up fluid and your on your way.

gravity bleed!!!! that would take forever!!

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for the clutch master cylinder though the longest line and the shortest line are the same line

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LOL, yeah, it'd the clutch that needs the fluid changed. Still, if that's the biggest mistake you ever make in your life Ruben, then you got braggin rights over me.

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No not the case a couple of minutes and the fluid is clear. And while its bleeding you can keep on working on other things and top up the fluid as you go....

But now I am curious. Dodgeman, you explained that After each pump I must hold the pedal at the floor and before releasing the pedal the drain nipple must be tightened and then so on and so on.
But, if I use a clear hose of about 500mm long connected to the nipple it won't be able to suck air back into the system because there will be brakefluid in the hose.
As I understand also is that it sucks only a little bit back from the pipe so the chance of a air bubble being sucked in is very little.
Am I right?
In this case i can just connect the pipe to the nipple,open the nipple and pump the new brake fluid through the system, close the nipple after the new fluid is pumped through the whole system and remove the pipe and bob's your uncle I'm done.