clutch problems

[adam15]

i have recently encounted a problem with the clutch on my monster 600 (wet clutch). the clutch sometimes bites when the lever is pulled in to the bar, causing drag and causing me to stall when i am in traffic and have to hold the brakes to stop the bike moving.
at first i thought it was air in the system, so i bleed the clutch and clamped the lever over night to release any air. i also changed the engine oil incase that was affecting the lubrication of the clutch. however i still have the same problem

i was told that it could be the clutch slave cylinder seals, which as far as i am aware are located inside the right hand crankhouse cover, is this right?

if it is the seals how easy are they to replace on a wet clutch being inside the casing?

does anyone know if this is a common problem for wet clutch? and if it is not the seals what is it likely to be?

thanks

[Lowsider]

clutch slave cylinder seals are on the left hand side where you would bleed the clutch line.....

I changed mine recently then went for a bling new one so may still have the one I recently replaced if you want to try it.

It may take a couple of days to search out....

[crust]

There's two different clutch slave cylinder locations depending on which year your 600 is.

Some on the right, some on the left.

One of the 600 experts should be along with more details, soon.

:) Crust

[adam15]

mine is a 1994 and the bleed nipple is on the right hand side, there is no slave cylinder near it so i imagine that it is on the inside of the engine casing, is this right?
how easy is it to get to if it is inside the casing?

[gary tompkins]

You'll need to remove clutch side crankcase cover to get at slave on 600's made up to around 1997. After that they had the external slave fitted to the left side of the engine as for the 900's.

The give away is the clutch slave bleed nipple fitted to the R/H side cover

From Haynes...

Drain engine oil
Disconnect oil pressure switch
Disconnect hydraulic hose union
Remove 10 cover screws
Pull cover off engine - if neccesary tap around outside to break gasket seal


Don't often hear of slave seals going on early 600's or 750's

[Rockhopper]

I've never heard of seals failing on the older 600 Monsters.

[nik_the_brief]

Does it get worse when it gets hot?

If so it may just be that the fluid is old and requires replacing with fresh fluid. Only a ten minute job - give it a go before starting to replace seals and the like.

My old 600 suffered badly round town in heavy traffic. I think it was simply that the fluid had absorbed so much water that it became useless when it got hot. Bled the system through with fresh fluid and it never failed me again.

[adam15]

i have bled the clutch twice now and even taped the clutch lever to the handle bar over night to release any trapped air in the system, but still have the same problem.
any ideas what could be causing the clutch to do this then if it is not the seals?

[adam15]

problem now fixed it was the master cylinder that was causing the problem, which has now been replaced and the clutch works again. thanks for the help

[_tc]

Does it get worse when it gets hot?

If so it may just be that the fluid is old and requires replacing with fresh fluid. Only a ten minute job - give it a go before starting to replace seals and the like.

My old 600 suffered badly round town in heavy traffic. I think it was simply that the fluid had absorbed so much water that it became useless when it got hot. Bled the system through with fresh fluid and it never failed me again.


Sorry to bring up this thread from the past. I have just ridden my recently aquired monster 600 in to work and the clutch was biting further and further away from the handle bar. The bike has been sstanding for 2 years and apart from belts and engine oil/plugs no other work to the fluids has been done.
Could someone please tell me the way to bleed a bike clutch and whilst im there hows about the brake fluid too. I have read about clamping the lever etc but not sure why this is.
Thank you in advance
Ed.(happy monster owner)

[nik_the_brief]

Sounds exactly like the problem I had then. yep you'll almost certainly want new fluids in there if it's been standing for that long.

Tis such an easy job that even I can do it. It's easier with 2 people though!

All you need is a screwdriver (to remove the dashpot top - unless it's one of the newfangled plastic 'uns), a bit of plastic tubing, a jar and a little spanner - preferably a ring spanner (8mm IIRC).

On the right hand side of the crankcase you'll see a tube going into the engine with a small bleed nipple on top of it (it may be protected by a little rubber cap to stop crap getting in there). Clean it off, then put said spanner over the bolt shaped bit and attach tubing to the nipple (oooer missus). Place end of tube in jar partly filled with a little brake/clutch fluid (so as to prevent air bleeding backwards into it).

Remove dashpot lid (taking care not to splash fluid on anything especially paintwork). Now comes the trikky bit...

Make sure the fluid is topped up. Open the bleed nipple then gently pull in the lever (so as not to squirt a jet of fluid upwards) pushing the fluid down the pipe into the jar (it'll be all dirty looking). Keep holding the lever in while you tighten the bleed nipple. Once tight then let lever out and the reservoir level will go down a little.

Keep repeating the same procedure (making sure to keep topping up the daashpot with fresh fluid) til it's running through clear into the jar.

Once you're happy its full of clean new fluid, tighten nipple for last time. Remove spanner, replace protective rubber thingamajig. Check the level in reservoir, make sure it's not too ful as the rubber thingy (see my technical knowledge) will displace some of it when you replace dashpot lid.

Ride off into the sunset with satisfied grin on face...

[banditloon]

Only one thing to add...

Put some old cloth/rags around the clutch resevoir and bleed nipple at the engine. Don't want nasty brake/clutch fluid spoiling the paint work :thumbsup:

[nik_the_brief]

Only one thing to add...

Put some old cloth/rags around the clutch resevoir and bleed nipple at the engine. Don't want nasty brake/clutch fluid spoiling the paint work :thumbsup:


Bugger yeah - I knew I'd forget something. I had it in my minds eye but forgot to put it into type!

[_tc]

Thats great thanks nik. just what i wanted to hear. i have worked on lorries and cars etc but never bikes. after reading a bit on here it sounded a bit more technical than a normal bleed. I will give it a go asap, assuming i get home ok this afternoon.
Thanks again
Ed.:thumbsup:

[banditloon]

Want to bleed my brakes when you've done the clutch?? I hate doing brakes :thumbsdown:


Bugger yeah - I knew I'd forget something. I had it in my minds eye but forgot to put it into type!

Your watching too much Most Haunted :chuckle:

[_tc]

[QUOTE=banditloon;204301]Want to bleed my brakes when you've done the clutch?? I hate doing brakes :thumbsdown:QUOTE]

Brakes are just the same routine arent they?

[banditloon]

Brakes are just the same routine arent they?

Two front calipers to bleed, only one clutch cylinder :chuckle:

I'm just a lazy bastid :chuckle:

[nik_the_brief]

Thats great thanks nik. just what i wanted to hear. i have worked on lorries and cars etc but never bikes. after reading a bit on here it sounded a bit more technical than a normal bleed. I will give it a go asap, assuming i get home ok this afternoon.
Thanks again
Ed.:thumbsup:

No worries mate - it really is that easy! All these myths you hear about Ducati engines requiring some sort of amazing technical knowledge and wizardry only really apply to the 4 valve water cooled jobbies - the old 2 valvers are relatively simple for most jobs (although personally I'd leave the valve shimming and stuff to them as know about that black art!).

[nik_the_brief]

Want to bleed my brakes when you've done the clutch?? I hate doing brakes :thumbsdown:




Your watching too much Most Haunted :chuckle:

My kids love that programme but I get scared by that Blue Peter birds eyes in the infra-red camera light. At least it frees up the PC for me to use of an evening!

[katana]

How about a nice braided clutch line?

[_tc]

How about a nice braided clutch line?


I think i will stick with this one at the moment thank you. i will bleed it and go from there.
I got home after work but had the same thing. It started off ok then as the bike warmed it started to get worse.
Clutch fluid is on the shopping list.

[banditloon]

My kids love that programme but I get scared by that Blue Peter birds eyes in the infra-red camera light. At least it frees up the PC for me to use of an evening!

Quality entertainment! Gets rid of the girlfriend for an hour too :D

[gremlin]

i bought one of them trigger type suction bleed kits a while ago. what a waste of money, went back to using a tube bleeder (the one with a one way valve on the end) so much easier ,you can get them from any car spares shop. if my memory serves me well, i seem to remember having to remove rear caliper to bleed as the nipple was too low to get all the air out. but then again it might have been one of the other bikes :dizzy: :fou: :dizzy: