tbear853

Last week I finally broke down and ordered and soon received the McLeod 62610 SS braided clutch hydraulic line kit for our 2008 GT. It's a mod I've wanted to try after reading reviews of so many who were rewarded with a better clutch feel and pedal and those who said it made for better shifting as the clutch seemed to release more. Our '08 already has a Hurst Billet shifter (that I added a lever extension to) and I long ago added a clutch pedal extension from Bondurant.


So today, at 29,xxx miles I pulled her around to the shop apron and up on ramps and wrestled the stock plastic line off. I made a pick from some heavy steel wire, sharpened on one end .... it worked great to ease the clips loose at the firewall and the elbow on the side of the trans. I could not reach up to where the line came into the elbow so I removed the elbow with line attached and put it on the new McLeod line and installed together on the car.


PICK TOOL:



Had I made the pick tool some few inches longer there would have been no need for the needle nose vise grips to hold it, but it worked like a champ in use at both ends.


New line in place, I ran it between firewall and that one AC line ..... and slipped a long piece of plastic corrugated split loom over it to prevent the SS braid from wearing a bare spot through the paint of the firewall.


Cleaned all traces of brake fluid up that spilled though 90% of it soaked into a rag I had placed under the firewall fitting just for that .... I used soapy water followed by a rinse.


Now ..... time to bleed. I read many posts on the net of people pumping the clutch a bunch, I mean like hundreds of times .... to bleed it. I also read FoMoCos directions that they send with the Ford Racing Line.

I pumped the clutch by hand, nothing there. 10-15 pumps, still nothing.
Gotta be a better way .... aka: the FoMoCo way!

So I removed the cap, topped off the MC reservoir which didn't take much .... and hooked up my pressure bleeder universal cap for brake bleeding (has a cone shaped rubber washer under it against opening in MC).... but instead of a pressurized tank, I hooked my vacuum pump to it. Applied just north of 15" vacuum to the MC reservoir and left it alone for a few minutes, released it, made sure fluid was topped off, checked clutch pedal by hand and found it was almost done ..... so I reinstalled adapter and repeated the drill ..... twice more actually. After the second time I actually had a full pedal but I did the third time as it was so simple.





Reason it works so well is air is lighter than brake fluid and when you apply 15" or 20" of vacuum above the MC reservoir level, you pull air out creating a strong vacuum which gives whatever is below it strong reason to come up. The fluid will not be sucked up across an air space, but any air in the system below that level will very quickly come through that fluid and up to the top ..... like boiling up.


Anyway .... I had other chores to do this evening, some work on my old truck, etc ...... but tomorrow we are gonna take a ride in the Mustang ..... I'll report back afterwards ...... but just in my limited drive back to the driveway ..... feels some slightly more positive.

Cavero

Nice writeup

I'm not quite sure how to break it to you though...you're bleeding method is brilliant. So brilliant, in fact, that Ford put it in the Factory Service manual

tbear853

.... I mentioned that but maybe the connection wasn't so clear.

That was "the better way" I decided upon.

I was just surprised in all my looking on forums and such that it was ignored by so many others. Seems hardly anyone did it this way ..... most seem to prefer jacking the left side up and pumping away. I figured it would maybe help someone else to read of how easy it was.

ford4v429

jacking the drivers side and rear up before putting vacuum on it gets it in one shot...if clutch will disengage enough to move car safely, park on a hill or curb with nose a little down, drivers side 10-12" higher than passenger, and any bubbles in the slave will get to the line port, AND line 'trap' will be open...

I have a picture of the slave from when I did my clutch, plain to see how the line bends down before exiting the bellhousing- requires drivers side up, and as line exits at rear of slave- requires rearend at least a little higher so bubbles arent trapped towards front of slave.

sitting right/vacuuming once= done. I had messed with mine, vaccum bled it and it was pretty good, but looking thru my pics, saw it, sat the car up on a decent angle and vacuum bled again, first few pumps immediately pulled bubbles into the reservoir, and pedal was improved. pumping/repeating did nothing...all about getting the 'bubble trap' high points gone... vacuum will expand the bubbles so they float out, but releasing vacuum will still leave a small bubble in any traps that exist.

tbear853

The reply is greatly appreciated.

The Ford instructions didn't mention that angle as I recall (I could have overlooked it?) ..... and I only had online pics of the slave to look at ...... and it looked like the line came out on the high side and went straight over to side and exited the bell housing.


Reading what you wrote .... I'll give it a go in the morning. Very easy to slip adapter back on and see what happens. Hard to believe there's much room for improvement over what I have ..... but then ..... it can't hurt none either. I won't even have to jack anything, I have a nicely sloped section of yard that'll be perfect.

Cavero

I re-read your OP to see if maybe I mis-read something. To me, it sounds like Ford's directions they include with the line tell you to pump the clutch (instead of using the vacuum)


So, take it for the test drive yet? what's the verdict (beyond the driveway impressions you mentioned)? Was it worth the $70 and trouble installing it?

tbear853

Well, maybe you ain't the only one who'll take it that way .....
..... so I added: ".... aka: the FoMoCo way!".
No road test yet, just got up to a chilly morning ..... someone turned the heat off outside! After coffee am gonna pull it around to slope in yard and give it one last shot of vacuum just "to be sure" ..... then "Wife Unit" and I plan a ride up the Skyline Drive or Blue Ridge Parkway .... one or tother .... or maybe some of both?

John SCB

I just noticed your thread after posting the results of my own clutch line replacement and bleed here:

https://themustangsource.com/forums/...nymore-525526/

Before replacing the clutch tube and CM, we tried both methods of bleeding; pedal pumping (on a slight grade, etc), and with pulling a vacuum. After replacing the parts, we power bled it three times just like you did. It should be noted that even after bleeding it that way, it took a good day of driving before the clutch pedal was exactly right. Perhaps a combo of both is what the hydraulics need to get back up to 100%.

FWIW, here's the power bleeder line we used:
http://motiveproducts.3dcartstores.c...er-_p_105.html

Look forward to hearing how yours turned out. Oh and I just picked up the Hurst Competition Plus Short Shift kit. Would also be interested to hear your comments on the difference between stock and the S/S.

tbear853

OK, so since my last post I finished my coffee and went out to the Mustang. Clutch pedal free play was pretty much minimal by my judgement but I said I was gonna do this ..... so I pulled it around to the slope and paid particular attention to clutch both with foot and engine running looking at grab point .... and free play with just my hand as well as general feel of the pedal both before doing this last bleed and afterwards. The left side of the car was a good 10-12" higher during this last vacuum bleed, I used a jack to add maybe 3". I had it on about 15" vacuum for near 10 minutes. I couldn't tell for sure that there was a difference for the better this last time but there maybe was a slight reduction in free play and maybe the clutch engages or disengages a hair higher. My free play is taken up almost as soon as the pedal moves now.

We drove the car about 170 miles today, no interstate, all of it was on either primary highway or secondary highway and from Afton Mtn to Rt 33 on the Skyline Drive. Lots of clutch activations .... it does seem to have a firmer feel somehow than before with the oem plastic line, the clutch seems to be disengaged earlier in the travel as I press with my foot. "Wife Unit" could not tell a difference but she hardly ever drives it.

I don't really think the plastic line really expanded much in use at the pressures this line sees, not an appreciable amount anyway. What I think causes many to notice a firmness is more likely .... IMHO .... due to a smaller volume of Dot 3 fluid between the clutch master cylinder and the slave cylinder with the SS braided hose. I know Dot 3 fluid isn't as compressible as air .... but any liquid is compressible.

Maybe between some slight compression of the fluid and any possible line expansion is the answer?

Stock plastic line is exactly 5/16" OD (0.3125") , so at least 1/4" (0.250" ID) ....
.....and fittings at end have a 9/64" (0.1406") opening.

Size 4 SS braided hose has 0.1875" ID = 3/16" (Earls had a chart) ..... McLeod hose kit uses size 4 hose & AN fittings.

Stock hose is certainly able to withstand heat short of contact with exhaust and being a low pressure application, lower than brakes ..... can withstand the pressure I think.

The size 4 McLeod line has a strong SS braided outer shell around inner liner so no expansion there for sure, and a smaller ID so less fluid volume in the collumn that is "the line" between the master and slave cylinders which just means the fluid that is there moves faster to move a volume of a stroke of the master cyl.

Pi x rad squared = area ..... and .... area X length = volume .... I used 36" as that's how long the McLeod kit is. I'm just too lazy to go measure stock line just now, but it is very near as long at least.
Plastic OEM line 0.250 ID so R = 0.125, R squared = 0.015625 .... mult by 3.1416 = 0.0490875 squ. in. .... mult by 36" = 1.76715 cu in. .... 178% that of McLeod line.
#4 SS braid line 0.1875 ID so R = 0.09375, R squared = 0.008759 .... mult by 3.1416 = 0.0275172 squ. in. .... mult by 36" = 0.9906 cu. in. .... 56% that of oem line.

Was it worth $70 and effort?
That depends on a host of questions. What else might you need the $$$ for, what value you place on erasing doubt or learning? I could go on and on ..... but while I think it was worthwhile for me and mine .... I dare say 90% of owners will gain no benefit that they will recognize from the mod. I place a certain value just on having tried it and seen a small improvement and knowing that I've eliminated a doubt in my mind. I also learned a little more about the car and spent an enjoyable afternoon yesterday doing this change and tending to some other aspects of her.
Yeah .... I'm pleased.

John SCB ..... about the Hurst C+ Billet short shifter ....
https://themustangsource.com/forums/...thread-523689/
and a rattle it developed in time .... which remains cured.
https://themustangsource.com/forums/...i-hope-529591/
I remain very happy with that as well. Between the Hurst, the pedal extension, the swap to Merc / Dex III fluid (which alone made a big difference), I am now very pleased with how this car shifts. This clutch line didn't hurt at all either. Still nibbles if you rush it going into 3rd when cold, but within a couple miles of leaving home, all is great .... so I learned to not rush it cold (ie: I purposefully pause in neutral between gears when cold)