Anyone with experience replacing the hydraulic clutch line or bleeding the clutch?

[ShootingBrakeS4]

Without removing anything from the motor to access the line on top of the transmission, there is a spot to get your your arm in under the coolant reservoir and under the battery there is a 2in X3in access hole.

I need some advice to figure out why after everything gets back together I loosen the bleed valve on the slave cylinder to bleed the system and the pump keeps pulling bubbles continuously. The clutch was operating fine up until this point, all I did was take out the old line and put in the new one. The clutch pedal will stay up or down and has no pressure, the reservoir is topped off and I don't see or hear any leaks.

The series of events:

• Driving when clutch started sticking to the floor (if depressed for longer then 10 sec will stay down)
• Located a leak in the rubber line attached to the slave cylinder
• Replaced the line
• Attempted to bleed the clutch
• Bubbles will not stop coming out of the bleeder

Any Advice or links to posts would be much appreciated

[QIKRNU]

Make sure you are not sucking the clutch master cylinder reservoir dry.

[ShootingBrakeS4]

Make sure you are not sucking the clutch master cylinder reservoir dry.

Thank you for a quick response!

If I'm not mistaken it shares the reservoir with the brake fluid, it was topped off.

[QIKRNU]

Iirc it has a separate section in the master cylinder.

[VinnysS4]

If there are no more leaks, grab yourself a vacuum bleeder. Best 30 seconds of your life . I guarantee.

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[VinnysS4]

Make 100% sure the car is level. Gravity bleed the clutch until fluid us dripping, then either hook up thw vac pump and go to town, or if you dont have one, youll need to manually work the pedal up and down until pressure builds. I dont like the pump pump hold method. It can cause cavitation. I prefere to push it down once per bleeder crack.

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[ShootingBrakeS4]

Make 100% sure the car is level. Gravity bleed the clutch until fluid us dripping, then either hook up thw vac pump and go to town, or if you dont have one, youll need to manually work the pedal up and down until pressure builds. I dont like the pump pump hold method. It can cause cavitation. I prefere to push it down once per bleeder crack.

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I did use the bleeder pump but I don't think Im doing right.

After the line was replaced all i did was open up the bleeder valve, push down the clutch, attach the pump and start pumping. Air was bubbling through the hose continuously making me think air is coming through the bleeder threads unless there is a leak in the system or I am doing something in the incorrect order.

Are you saying there is a different process involving pumping the clutch in and out, opening and closing the valve simultaneously.

[Nollywood]

I’ve always gravity bled Audi hydraulic clutches, and had no issues. I’ve never used a pressure or vacuum bleeder. If you’re continuously pulling bubbles through, then air is being drawn through somewhere.

Look at the threads at each end of the replacement line, and make sure they’re dry. If the slave cylinder end has the push-in connector with a securing clip, make sure the end of the line has the small O-ring seal.

If all these are good, then you could have a bad slave cylinder.

[ShootingBrakeS4]

I’ve always gravity bled Audi hydraulic clutches, and had no issues. I’ve never used a pressure or vacuum bleeder. If you’re continuously pulling bubbles through, then air is being drawn through somewhere.

Look at the threads at each end of the replacement line, and make sure they’re dry. If the slave cylinder end has the push-in connector with a securing clip, make sure the end of the line has the small O-ring seal.

If all these are good, then you could have a bad slave cylinder.

All the connections are dry and the clutch was working perfect before I found the leaky hose which makes me think It is not the slave.

What is the step by step for the bleeding process?

[Nollywood]

A tired master cylinder will cause the symptoms you’re describing.

Don’t discount a bad master cylinder - the leaky rubber hose you’ve replaced could well be a red herring.

[ShootingBrakeS4]

A tired master cylinder will cause the symptoms you’re describing.

Don’t discount a bad master cylinder - the leaky rubber hose you’ve replaced could well be a red herring.

I guess all options are on the tale, just hoping for the best.

Wouldn’t a tired master cylinder show symptoms before the leak? If so what sort of symptoms would lead up to a complete replacement. Keep in mind the clutch was working fine up until the leak.

[roboto_1337]

If there are no more leaks, grab yourself a vacuum bleeder. Best 30 seconds of your life . I guarantee.

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This... they're cheap and work amazingly... I manually bled my slave once and it takes forever to get all the air out. Vacuum bled it this time it took about 15 minutes... and that was mostly spent getting the hose onto the slave.

[VinnysS4]

This... they're cheap and work amazingly... I manually bled my slave once and it takes forever to get all the air out. Vacuum bled it this time it took about 15 minutes... and that was mostly spent getting the hose onto the slave.

When I swapped in my USP slave and upgraded line, I tried to bleed that thing for over an hour straight. It would feel like it would get a little bit better and then would be worse and it would get a little bit better and then I'll be back to when I started. I grabbed my vacuum bleeder, the first time I hooked it up it worked within seconds. I have bled every single one this way now so far and it works amazing.

An old timers trick I saw to stop air from leaking around the bleeder was to remove the bleeder and dip the threads in Grease. When you thread it back in, it seals up the threats really good while the bleeder is still loose. Might want to give that a try. The real question comes down to, where is the air in the line coming from.

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[ShootingBrakeS4]

Is there a trick to replacing the line, or is removing the down pipes necessary?

[roboto_1337]

Is there a trick to replacing the line, or is removing the down pipes necessary?

you would only need to remove the driver's side downpipe. You could try and do it without doing that, but it'll give you WAAAY more room to work with it out.

[ShootingBrakeS4]

8E1721465AE
8E1721465AT

Depending on the vin# its either line, all i need is the rubber hose with crimped fittings.

Anyone know the part# for just the hose or a universal hose with the same thread/compression fitting?


Update!

Was able to get bubbles out of the line by opening the bleeder and just pumping the clutch, only took about 25 clutch pedal cycles. Found out the bleeder pump I bought was pulling air right through the threads in the valve itself causing the bubbles to form continuously. Once full pressure was restored I notice the 1/8 to 1/8 barb fitting I used as a coupling could not hold the pressure. Bough some better 10mm pipe clamps to see if I can get a tight squeeze on it before I remove the down pipe and replace the hose entirely.

My order of repair priority:
cheap fix
oem replacement
upgraded replacement

[ShootingBrakeS4]

Update- cars all fixed now.

new steel braided clutch line, slave cylinder, fluid and syth oil change 725$

[VinnysS4]

Update- cars all fixed now.

new steel braided clutch line, slave cylinder, fluid and syth oil change 725$

Used liquid gold i take it?

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[ShootingBrakeS4]

Used liquid gold i take it?

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Actually they ran a special, 54$ for the oil change. In 2 years i have spend maybe 1500 in repairs ($725 and $650ish) with this car.

After owning 11 german cars, i can say that is honestly not to bad!

People who say they are unreliable may have got a car that wasn't taken care of or they don't care for it themselves.

[VinnysS4]

Actually they ran a special, 54$ for the oil change. In 2 years i have spend maybe 1500 in repairs ($725 and $650ish) with this car.

After owning 11 german cars, i can say that is honestly not to bad!

People who say they are unreliable may have got a car that wasn't taken care of or they don't care for it themselves.

Not bad on the oil change, but the rest seems high. Didnyou juat take it and drop it off for them to deal with?

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[ShootingBrakeS4]

Not bad on the oil change, but the rest seems high. Did you just take it and drop it off for them to deal with?

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I spent at least 8 hrs total trying to repair the line by using a 1/8 to 1/8 barb coupling and a new rubber hose. Got it all hooked up and the bubbles bled form the sytem and then the old hose broke again. At that point I said F#@k it.
I couldn't drive it, they had to send a flat bed.

Slave and SS clutch Line parts $257
Labor to replace $307.76
Synth Oil change and filter $ 54.95
Flat bed tow $95

[VinnysS4]

Damn... well i guess thst isnt too bad. I replaced my slave with one from USP with the braided line. I think i got it from another member for $100. I guess that's what im comparing it to. Either way. Glad you got it fixed!

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