Well, I've spoiled a perfectly fine Saturday afternoon by making a mess of a clutch bleed on my 2013 1199. I've now got no resistance at all in the clutch and cannot seem to draw fluid from the reservoir towards the master or slave. Earlier today I bought a Mityvac and connected it to the slave, primed it, opened the slave bleed valve and began pulling fluid from the system but it didn't begin to empty the reservoir. So, I've ended up with an empty system between the master and slave but no clear way to draw new fluid from the reservoir. After hours of trying to fix it, I'm now doing the following as per the workshop PDF... 1, Open the slave bleed valve 1/4 turn 2, Pull the clutch lever to the bar (I hear a small puff of air) 3, Close the slave bleed valve 4, Release the clutch lever 5, Repeat and repeat about 100 times but still no DOT4 being drawn from the clutch fluid reservoir. I'm completely stumped. Any help or advice really appreciated. J
You will need to bleed the master cylinder at the nipple near the clutch lever and don’t use the Mityvac again. Attach a pipe to the slave cylinder bleed nipple and submerge the free end of the pipe in brake fluid in a bottle. Open the slave cylinder bleed nipple and just pump the clutch lever making sure you keep the fluid topped up. Andy
Sounds like you may need to bleed the m/cyl first. Crack the pipe to cyl joint, pull lever back and hold in place while you re tighten pipe union. You should see fluid and bubbles come out of the union and after a couple of pumps just fluid. Not familiar with later models but you may have a bleed nipple on the m/cyl you can use. Once done then bleed slave as normal.
Thanks, Android & Hugh I've not been submerging the pipe in a fluid. Is that a rookie mistake and what's been causing the problem/lack of vacuum I've just had the pipe in a tray ready to collect the DOT4. That's why I could hear the air with each clutch pull. Is this the key to being able to pull DOT4 from the reservoir? I'm now at a point where I can remove both master and slave bleed valves and not a drop of DOT4 will come out even if I pull the clutch lever to the bar. So, just to confirm the order... 1, Slave - pipe connected and submerged, open the bleed valve, pump clutch as much as required until a drop in the reservoir is seen and fluid flowing from the slave bleed valve. 2, Master - pull cutch lever to bar, open the master bleed valve to clear air and see DOT4, close master bleed valve, release clutch lever.
Start with the master cylinder and you can use the same submerged pipe end method or just, open bleed nipple, pump, close bleed nipple, release sequence. Andy
Max, the Mcyl bleed needs to be done with the reservoir full and it needs a few gentle but progressive pumps of the clutch lever until the fluid ejected through the bleed screw is free of bubbles, be wary to keep the reservoir full and do not grab a handful of lever as you will eject fluid everywhere. Whilst doing that it is advisable to put a large rag around the reservoir to protect everything from any spillage. Then do the slave but keep the bleed pipe in the waste fluid, you can follow the same procedure you mentioned of pulling the lever then closing the bleed before releasing it and the fluid will come down but it may need some repetitions,make sure the reservoir is topped up whilst doing this. Finally after the slave fluid runs clean and bubble free one final bleed on the master cylinder will return the system to 100% operation.
I had this happen to me. Yes you need to bleed from master cylinder, but when you loose all resistance like that the trick is to pull the clutch lever back very gently, it might take 15-20 gentle pulls, while opening and closing the bleed nipple too as normal, and the pressure will return. My instinct was to pull the lever back hard thinking it will push the air out so When it happened to me i had to phone Alex at Ducati Proteam who put me right ,super helpful in guiding me through the technique.
Thanks guys. Can I confirm the order before tackling it again this morning after a couple of strong coffees? 1, Remove the clutch fluid reservoir cap and rubber diaphragm. Fill with clean DOT4. 2, Connect hose/pipe to master cylinder (MC) bleed valve making sure the discharge end is submerged in fluid. - Any fluids? 3, Slowly pull the clutch lever to the bar. 4, Open MC bleed valve 1/4-1/2 turn. 5, Close MC bleed valve. 6, Release clutch lever. 7, Repeat steps 3-6 until fluid is passing through the MC bleed valve. OR Should steps 3-6 be as follows? 3, Open MC bleed valve 1/4-1/2 turn. 4, Slowly pull the clutch lever to the bar. 5, Close MC bleed valve. 6, Release clutch lever. 7, Repeat steps 3-6 until fluid is passing through the MC bleed valve. Then move onto the same process at the slave cylinder.
Max, for the mcyl, you just need to take the cover and diaphragm then loosen the screw (a clean 6mm socket iirc) then gently pump the lever until the ejected fluid is bubble free then tighten the screw, no need to open and close the bleed screw. You will get a feel for it. Once that is done work on the slave as Michel has indicated. For the fluid if you want to start with some in the receiving jar just pour in a little brake fluid. I never bother to start that way but tend to close the nipple before releasing the lever which achieves the same result but is a bit of a faff.
Thanks Denzil but unfortunately, no joy. I took the cover and diaphragm off the M/Cyl reservoir. Put hose over the M/Cyl bleed valve, Opened the bleed valve at least two turns (very loose), slowly pumped the clutch lever at least 20 times... Nowt! No bubbles showing in the M/cyl reservoir, no fluid coming out of the M/cly bleed valve.
Update with good news which I hope can help others that may, unfortunately, find themselves in the same situation. After four days of trying every method I could find on the net, youtube and following the Ducati workshop PDF to the letter. Of which none worked! I followed my GCSE Science instincts and found a simple and hopefully easy way to fix air (a lot of air) in the clutch system. You need the following items: 1, 50-100ml syringe 2, 2 x 6"-12" 6mm clear tube - one for the M/Cyl and one for the Syringe and S/Cyl 3, 11mm spanner for the M/Cyl 4, 8mm spanner for the S/Cyl 5, Of course, your DOT4 6, A waste container of some type. Steps to follow... 1, Attach one of the 6"-12" clear tubes to the M/Cly bleed valve. DO NOT open the bleed valve yet. 2, Take the cap and diaphragm off the clutch reservoir. Mine was about a 1/4 full when I started. 3, Connect the other 6"-12" clear tube securely to the syringe and fill with DOT4. Prep the syringe by clearing all the air/bubbles. 4, Connect the prepped syringe to the slave cylinder bleed valve and apply a little pressure. DO NOT open the bleed valve yet. 5, Open the S/Cyl bleed valve a 1/4-1/2 turn and apply slight pressure to the syringe. Push as much DOT4 as the system will allow before the pressure overcomes the syringe tube and leaks at the S/Cyl bleed valve. It probably won't take much as your pushing/squashing the air already in the system. 6, Now open the M/Cyl bleed valve as much as needed to allow the DOT4 to move through from the S/Cyl, up the clutch line and into the M/Cyl. You should hear air escape the M/Cyl and maybe see bubbles in the clutch reservoir. 7, Once you start getting a solid stream of DOT4 showing in the M/Cyl clear tube. Lock the S/Cyl bleed valve then quickly lock the M/Cyl bleed valve. 8, Remove and clear all your tubes of waste DOT4, and fingers crossed you should have 'some' clutch back that you will be able to improve/refine with step 9. 9, Now revert to the standard method of clearing any final air at the M/Cyl and S/Cyl by pumping the clutch 4-5 times then holding at the bar as you crack the bleed valve a tiny amount for just a second. Repeat this until you've got no bubbles and a good feeling clutch lever. You can re-use the clear tube again for this step. This should now draw DOT4 from the clutch reservoir. 10, Top up the clutch reservoir and cap off. I've yet to get out for a shake-down run but the clutch feels great. Could I expect to see any issues with gear selection post having complete air in the system or once it's full of DOT4, normal feel should be there? Well, hope this helps someone out there one day. Cheers.
They all seem a waste of time once you've bought a 50-100ml syringe and a length of clear tube... £3-4 all in and must more manageable than relying on creating vacuums/seals everywhere.
