Clutch Slave Cylinder Replacement

[Large Arbor]

I am replacing the clutch slave cylinder on ERA 714. I have the replacement part from ERA. Any pointers from someone who has done this? It seems straight forward, but I would appreciate any feedback. I assume drain fluid, remove old, put in new, bleed and finish.

Phil

[DonC]

Pretty straight forward. Remember it's a gravity feed so be ready to cap the line when you remove it. Don't over tighten the bolt holding the slave to the engine flange. That's about it for words of wisdom.
DonC

[DanEC]

Yes, the cylinder rotates in the mount and is secured by a small bolt. Be sure and position it with the bleeder port at the top. Otherwise it will drive you crazy trying to bleed the system until it dawns on you. Ask me how I know.

[Large Arbor]

Ok, sounds good. So manual says pushing the clutch fork by hand to bleed the cylinder lines. Since it is such a short line seems to me that this should go pretty quick (i.e. a few pumps and air should be gone). I am learning so much from you folks that own cars and have dealt with similar issues, its a great pleasure to be on this site. Thanks again for the sage advice.

Phil

[Large Arbor]

Ok, so I got the old slave out and the new one in and will start adjusting / bleeding tonight or tomorrow. As I read ERAs manual, I am using a return spring and the throw out bearing should not ride against the pressure plant when the clutch is not depressed. When I push the clutch in, it should be enough to completely engage the clutch. My only concern is can the adjustment rod be pushed so much against the slave that it pushes the piston back to far? Is there a standard amount of travel I should see from the slave cylinder itself?

Phil

[DanEC]

I don't believe there is any problem caused by bottoming out the slave cylinder piston. That was basically how I adjusted mine. Bottomed it out with the bearing touching the clutch fingers. Then backed off a couple turns of the rod to allow a mimimal amount of bearing clearance to the clutch fingers. I don't like a lot of free play at the top since the pedal throw is somewhat long in these cars. I'm running a spring also.

These stories about new Fords running zero-clearance throw out bearing with constant light pressure on the clutch fingers just don't compute in my 63 year old brain. I don't feel like being a test subject for them.