3.0 manual, bad clutch slave?

[TitanSilber3.0]

I'm at the end of my rope here. I'll qualify this by saying that I've bled brakes and BMW slave cylinders many times (successfully) in the past. However, I just finished a brake fluid flush on the X5 (again, successfully) only to be stumped by the slave cylinder.

The clutch has felt a little funny for about a month now. The clutch "pickup" point has gotten closer to the floor, and seems have less room for error. It's unbelievably jerky from a stop, and the 1-2 shift will snap my passengers necks. It's had a bit of this sensation since new (it's a 2002), but seems to have gotten tougher to drive as of late.

So I decided at the end of my brake flush to go ahead and throw in the CDV that I'd purchased months ago. Installation was messy, but no problem. However, when I hooked up the catch can and the bleeder (Motive), all I get through the line is air, air, and lots of air. I've been through three full Motive tanks of air. I start at 20psi, and within 10 seconds so much air has been pushed through the line I'm at 0psi.

Do I need to back bleed some fluid into the slave to "prime" it? It seems odd to me that the master cylinder is completely full, yet I'm getting air out of the line into the catch can. Is the slave cylinder bad? Has the piston inside dislodged itself by being pushed out too far?

Can somebody help a brother out and shed some light on this? Am I overlooking something stupidly easy?

Thanks,

Jason

[JCL]

I haven't bled a BMW clutch for a lot of years, including when I installed a CDV on our 325xi (managed to prevent air getting in).

However, I would not use a power bleeder. I would approach it the 'old fashioned' way, with a Coke bottle half full of fluid and a rubber hose from the bleeder going into the Coke bottle (to below the fluid level). I would open and close the bleeder as required, with an assistant on the pedal. Just my $0.02.

Good luck.

[TitanSilber3.0]

Thanks for the reply.

I just pulled the slave cylinder off of the tranny housing. It's making a plunging noise when cycled, and not building pressure with fluid.

I'll try your manual method to see if that works.

[TitanSilber3.0]

I have no pedal at all. Goes to the floor, stays on the floor. Pumping it changes nothing.

[swissfrank]

Originally Posted by TitanSilber3.0

I have no pedal at all. Goes to the floor, stays on the floor. Pumping it changes nothing.

hmm, try taking the bleeder nipple off completely and gravity bleeding it for a bit. Were you loosing any brakefluid prior to 'fixing' it? I'd lean towards a faulty clutch master cylinder though...

Is the resevoir full of cluid and the line that goes to the Clutch Master Cylinder still attached with no kinks?

Hopefully you figure it out. You don't have to tell me how much it sucks to not be able to drive the X5.

[UncleBob]

Could it be the dual-mass flywheel failing? mine failed shortly after i bought the car and the symptoms were very similar to what you're describing. even with the new flywheel it still feels the same. i also have an '02 3.0i 5 speed.