Bleeding clutch

[King Kenny]

I have just come in after beading my brakes. They are fine. I thought it was a good idea to blead the clutch whilst I was there. The fluid has not been changer for about ten years. I kept the reservoir topped up at all times. The old fluid was pumped out and the new fluid had no bubbles. I tightened up the blead nipple and tried the clutch. The pedal can be pushed almost to the floor before any resistance can be felt. I checked everything and bled it some more. No improvement. I found this in the Wiki-

They can be a bit of a pain if you let them run dry, it takes a while to get some fluid in there but once it's in it will bleed up fine. Chances are that if you leave it an hour it will be okay and you should be able to bleed it normally.

Generally I don't press the pedal, just open the bleed nipple and let the fluid flow using gravity. I am going to leave it for tonight but if you have any ideas or advice please let me know.
..

[kevtherev]

I gravity bled mine.
However ..
It had to have a slave cylinder change.

Your symptoms are either air or slave failure.
When you have bled it to death then the inevitable is the problem

[King Kenny]

Thanks for that, Kev. I'll have another go tomorrow and try to blead it not quite to death. It was working fine before so I can't believe it is a component failure unless...…...

[King Kenny]

IMG_2127web.jpg (49.92 KiB) Viewed 1690 times

Well, I'd never have thought it. I tried to blead the clutch again this morning to no avail so I thought it could only be the master cylinder. When I stripped it this is what I found... No wonder.

[kevtherev]

Never seen that.
Is it original?

[King Kenny]

Is it original? I guess so. The bolts look undisturbed. The spring must have worn thin and all the pumping to change the fluid must have been too much for it.
Anyhow, a new master cylinder is on order.