brakes and clutch

still trying to get my 2a brakes and clutch going after it's been stood for a couple of years. Now I am no expert with any of this and have tried searching so go easy

Yesterday (oh yes in the cold old snow) I replaced both the clutch and brake slave cylinders, I then pumped the brake peddle and could get fluid pumping through 3 wheels but on inspection of the 4th rear passanger side wheel found the exhaust has come off it's mounting and crushed / melted the pipe totally flat! I also looked at the clutch master cylinder which appears to have had the blead nipple snapped so have got a preplacement but not fitted it yet. Both brake and clutch meddle or totally slack.

The reason I was trying to get it working before taking it appart was to test the gearbox etc to see if anything needed replacing during the strip down and to be honest it's be nice to have a go before it's out of action for a few months.

so my qestion is this: why will the brakes not work on 3 wheels if the pipe is totally blocked on the forth? Do I need to bleed the whole system including the clutch to make the brakes work? Or am I not bleeding the brakes in the correct way?

hope you could give me some idea on this one.

If you've melted the brake pipe that part of the circuit may now be full of air - it might not be blocked. This would stop the brakes working and you may not get any fluid leakage from the flexible pipe. Replace the pipe (you'll have to anyway) bleed the system and try again.
The clutch and brake hydraulic systems are independent on my S3 and the S2 is similar. The slave cylinder has the bleed nipple on it, accessible via a blanking plug on the right side of the centre cover. The S3 has it on the other side and there's a remote bleed option which I think you can fit to the S2 as well - it's just a piece of brake pipe that extends the bleed nipple to somewhere you can reach it!

Have you got the old style single circuit system, with the one can of fluid for clutch and brakes?
I had a nightmare this year on my 2a that resulted in replacing nearly everything, having bleed nipples shearing off is quite aggravating. The oldstyle master cylinders can be a bit of pig to prime/bleed.

You shouldnt need to bleed both systems to get the brakes to work, likewise your 3 remaining brakes should work its probs just not bled completely. Pumping the brake pedal seems to work for some people but it didnt for me, it just seemed to suck all the remaining fluid out! The master cylinder has to be primed completely then a pressure bleeder works a charm.

oxides said:

If you've melted the brake pipe that part of the circuit may now be full of air - it might not be blocked. This would stop the brakes working and you may not get any fluid leakage from the flexible pipe. Replace the pipe (you'll have to anyway) bleed the system and try again.
The clutch and brake hydraulic systems are independent on my S3 and the S2 is similar. The slave cylinder has the bleed nipple on it, accessible via a blanking plug on the right side of the centre cover. The S3 has it on the other side and there's a remote bleed option which I think you can fit to the S2 as well - it's just a piece of brake pipe that extends the bleed nipple to somewhere you can reach it!

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that remote bleed sounds superb, do you know where sells them? my back was frozen solid rolling about on the ground bleeding my clutch yesterday.

Sorry for butting in on this thread, does anyone know what size the thread is on the bleed nipples? I've seen these on ebay and fancy giving them a whirl.

Speed bleed kit. Auto brake bleed nipples KAWASAKI M7x3 on eBay (end time 05-Jan-11 20:50:36 GMT)

Elwood Balboa said:

that remote bleed sounds superb, do you know where sells them? my back was frozen solid rolling about on the ground bleeding my clutch yesterday.

Click to expand...

I can dig out the part numbers if you like but you could easily make one up with some brake pipe and the appropriate adaptors. Or have a look yourself, the S3 parts book is somewhere on the forum.