This can't bee this difficult.

Here's what I've tried. Someone on the pedal, pumping, holding, I open the bleed screw and watch air and fluid come out of the Slave in a clear pipe. Keep it up till there aren't any bubbles.

Use a Mityvac hand pump with catch bottle to pull fluid/air through the slave till it runs clear.

Pull the cutch master cylinder feed pipe from the reservoir and use the hand pump and it's reservoir to push fluid through and watch for clear fluid at the open bleed screw. (Difficult to use the hand pump and monitor the fluid at the slave.)

Each time, after reaching the point where there isn't any air (or just a very minor amount of pinhole-sized bubbles) when I try again there's always more at first, then none, over and over.

Still the same problem. Start the car and the trans just will not go into R (grinds), 1st, 2nd, but can be gently forced into 3rd & 4th. Releasing the pedal while in 3 or 4 has the clutch engaging about halfway through it's stroke. With the engine off I can get the trans into all gears. If I start it in first with the clutch depressed it doesn't creep and again, when releasing the clutch it doesn't pick up until halfway through it's stroke so the clutch isn't at the engagement point with the pedal on the floor

I pulled the slave out of it's mount and with it hanging pipe end up, giving air no where to go but up to the master, I compressed the pushrod (and piston) completely and felt & heard air bubbles making their way past the master and into the main reservoir. Leigh confirmed the fluid level was rising as I did this. I did it a few times till I didn't hear any air in the system.

Wondering about internal leaks around the master cylinder's piston I again compressed the slave pushrod and piston, this time just 1/2", and had my wife depress the clutch just about an inch, which would block the port in the master cylinder, sealing off the fluid in the line. Sure enough, as it should, I couldn't compress the piston any farther and she felt me trying at the pedal. If the master cylinder piston seal were bad, I would have been able to compress the piston (and the clutch release arm wouldn't be pushed which it is.)

I'm completely out of ideas now. I'm ordering IPD's pressure bleeder in hopes that it will do what I couldn't with my hand pump.

This has turned into a bear and I have a car I can't drive. Anyone else have this much trouble bleeding a clutch?

I've run almost two quarts of Dot 4 through this thing already. It's coming out so clean I'm re-using it.

I needed a bleed screw on my forehead when I threw in the towel yesterday.
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Erwin in Memphis, '88 745t 190,000 miles, '95 855t 92,000 miles