I was checking under the hood the other day and saw my clutch fluid is looking pretty dirty. My FJ is about 4 1/2 years old so I figured it could use changing. Brake fluid absorbs water from the atmosphere and that water will cause any steel in the system to rust. That's why I think it's a good idea to change brake & clutch fluid once in a while.
I was surprised when I did a search (on here and google) and didn't find any info on how to do that on an FJ so I thought I'd share how I did mine. If I've just missed something or if anyone knows a better way, please let me know.
First thing I did was use a vacuum pump to suck all the fluid out of the resevoir and clean the inside. It was filthy. After that, I refilled it with new fluid.
Next, underneath the FJ, if you look just above the front driveshaft on the clutch bellhousing, you'll see a slave cylinder bolted on. It has a 10mm bleeder screw just like on your brakes so if you know how to bleed brakes you're set right? Well, maybe.
At first, I used the vacuum pump to try to pull the new fluid through but it wasn't coming through very easily so I closed the bleeder and had my wife come out and push the clutch pedal down while I cracked the bleeder open and plenty of fluid came out. I tightened the bleeder as the flow slowed down and thought everything was good now. That's when my wife said, "Oh great, the clutch pedal's just sitting on the floor now."
In my several years of marriage, I've realized this is the time to act like nothing's wrong. I think I just let some air into the system when I couldn't get fluid to come out of the bleeder. So, I had her pull the pedal up (it will stay up by itself) and tried again with the vacuum pump. This time the fluid came out much faster. I guess all the debris clogged something (bleeder screw probably) and using the pedal forced it out?
Anyway, keep a close eye on the resevoir while you're pulling fluid through. It doesn't hold much and will run out quickly.
After refilling the resevoir a couple times, the fluid coming out looked clean so I closed the bleeder and the clutch worked fine again.
That's all there was to it. Hopefully that helps someone out.
I was surprised when I did a search (on here and google) and didn't find any info on how to do that on an FJ so I thought I'd share how I did mine. If I've just missed something or if anyone knows a better way, please let me know.
First thing I did was use a vacuum pump to suck all the fluid out of the resevoir and clean the inside. It was filthy. After that, I refilled it with new fluid.
Next, underneath the FJ, if you look just above the front driveshaft on the clutch bellhousing, you'll see a slave cylinder bolted on. It has a 10mm bleeder screw just like on your brakes so if you know how to bleed brakes you're set right? Well, maybe.
At first, I used the vacuum pump to try to pull the new fluid through but it wasn't coming through very easily so I closed the bleeder and had my wife come out and push the clutch pedal down while I cracked the bleeder open and plenty of fluid came out. I tightened the bleeder as the flow slowed down and thought everything was good now. That's when my wife said, "Oh great, the clutch pedal's just sitting on the floor now."
In my several years of marriage, I've realized this is the time to act like nothing's wrong. I think I just let some air into the system when I couldn't get fluid to come out of the bleeder. So, I had her pull the pedal up (it will stay up by itself) and tried again with the vacuum pump. This time the fluid came out much faster. I guess all the debris clogged something (bleeder screw probably) and using the pedal forced it out?
Anyway, keep a close eye on the resevoir while you're pulling fluid through. It doesn't hold much and will run out quickly.
After refilling the resevoir a couple times, the fluid coming out looked clean so I closed the bleeder and the clutch worked fine again.
That's all there was to it. Hopefully that helps someone out.