SpitfireS

With all parts clean the spring inside the slave may push the piston out again making a mess if you fill it with brake fluid.
The boot also helps to keep the piston in the slave, or, at best, stops it from being pushed out too far again.

Dilemma here

I would put it all together without fluid and put a rubber band or simular around the slave to keep the piston in.
Then have the pushrod ready when you take the rubber band away and start pushing the piston back in with the pushrod while you install the slave in its postion.
Keep all bolts in reach & ready.
You may even try this without the rubber boot to check if the seals are bad once the slave is installed.
Connect the clutch line (loosely), close the bleeder.
In your case the reservoir is probably empty => fill it.
Now undo the clutch line (the banjo bolt) a little bit, you may have to pump the clutch pedal to get rid of the air in the master (it takes 2 for that).
There is one thing, you should try to close the banjo during the upwards stroke of the clutch pedal to avoid sucking air in at the banjo.
Communication
If the fluid leaking out of the banjo looks clean and without air bubbles (hard to see.. yes) close it.
Now the master is full with (airless)fluid.
Refill the reservoir.
Now open the bleeder after attaching a hose to it.
It helps 100% to have the rear of the car higher then the front when doing this, this way the bleeder is also higher and you'll get more air bubbles out.
Let gravity be your friend.
During bleeding keep your eye on the reservoir level, don't let it run too low.
During this gravity bleed you can try to push the piston back in as far as it goes to push all air out the bleeder.
Again: during the outgoing stroke of the piston close the bleeder.
(now your slave is working like a clutch fluid pump)
Watch the level in the reservoir!

Once the fluid in the hose is clear without air bubbles tighten the bleeder.
Time to test.

If you installed the slave without the rubber boot you can now watch for leaking seals.
Disadvantage: you have to take it apart & bleed it again.
The master should be fine though.

nightcrawler7188

^^WOW! thank you for all of that. i just got some advice from my uncle. i will try his method first because it seems simple enough, and he always knows what he's doing. then, i'll show him this and see what he thinks.

thanks A LOT spitfire!

nightcrawler7188

i DID remove the fork out of curiosity, but i put it back and made sure it was anchored and had something to push against, so i'm sure it's back where it needed to be. my first thought was that the fork was misplaced, causing the piston to over-travel, but i don't think so, since once i reinstalled everything, i could push on the release fork and i heard fluid moving through the lines. but the fact that i heard fluid moving through the lines also means that i MUST have air in there. more than one person has told me that i really need to gravity bleed the cylinder then see if i regain pressure in the pedal, so i'll do that tonight.

thanks!

nightcrawler7188

SPITFIRE YOU ARE THE MAN!

not only did i follow your directions and fix the problem with the slave, but dbzerk's DIY for fixing my clutch problem (ongoing problem for about 4 months) was completely successful!!


my car feels like a BRAND NEW CAR. SERIOUSLY i was getting tired of riding in my shitmobile with a sticky/stiff/messed up clutch!


THANK YOU ALL!

nightcrawler7188

HERE'S THE SITUATION:

after one night of driving with a fixed clutch, i notice the clutch pedal is ONCE AGAIN becoming stiff/slightly sticky at the bottom. it is very inconsistent. i thought doing the thing with the slave cyl fixed it because it really was perfect last night...

should i go ahead and do the TOB guide replace also??

thanks
Rashad