Hello, I’ve purchased a 63 type series 1 fhc. I’m new to owning a jag and doing maintenance etc. The cars runs perfectly in the year i’ve owned except this summer ran into a problem when the car is warm with the clutch.
When warm it is difficult to shift gears and i’ve been told there may be air in the system that needs to be bled. Does anyone have a video of a clutch being bled? I’d like to try and tackle this myself. Thanks for any assistance
There’s no mystery to bleeding the clutch, though the downward orientation of the bleed nipple is a slight complication. It can be done solo but having an assistant behind the wheel is useful. Standard procedure is to attach one end of a snug fitting, clear PVC hose to the slave cylinder nipple and put the other end into a glass jar. Make sure the reservoir is full. Crack open the bleed nipple and have your assistant pump the clutch pedal a few times till no air bubbles appear in the hose then tighten the nipple. Top up the reservoir. You may have to repeat.
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Hi Dean, I’m sure there are videos and others will be able to advise the best way.
If you are in fact getting air, you may want to replace your brake slave cylinder, it may be worn out and inducing air as you’re shifting. And at minimum you can always check and see if it’s leaking.
Make sure fluid is fresh it may even have water in it. It’s like bleeding brakes.
On my old S type I have a couple photos from last year when I had to swap it out here SLAVE to your CYLINDER
Good luck let us know how you made out
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so far i haven’t even been able to find the bleed nipple so that will be my first step lol. I"m not mechanic but enjoy doing small jobs. Where would i find that? any pics would really help. The diagrams in the owners manual aren’t that helpful
I wonder whether in fact this is more related to the gearbox synchros.
Drain your gearbox oil and replace it with Redline MT90. You will need around 1.7 litres.
Here is a picture of the engine out of the car. The arrow is pointing to the location of the bleed nipple on the bottom of the slave cylinder. You can access from the right underside of the car just forward of the door opening.
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My best result on the clutch came by opening the nipple slightly with tube attached and let it gravity bleed into a jar for an hour or so while periodically checking that the bottle did not run dry. I then finished the bleeding with a few pumps with my one-man bleeder attached to make sure I did not see any bubbles and had a good firm pedal. Use the magnet in the kit to place the bottle higher than the top of the slave cylinder as mentioned in the instructions in the kit. You may need to get a longer section of clear bleed hose than comes in this kit though.
David
68 E-type FHC
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Although it may be air in the line, it’s equally likely the throw out bearing needs to be adjusted. That would be the next thing to check after bleeding, or just test it while down there. Bring a half inch spanner in case you need to loosen the pinch nut on the push rod to adjust it.
Also, assuming it’s the original 3.8 non synchro box, changing to Redline MTR greatly improves performance over plain SAE 30 oil.
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Nice P1800, too.
Whereabouts in Ontario are you?
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Hello Nick, I’m in Kenora. How about you?
Niagara. I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Kenora, but not for 15 years or so. Nice part of the world. Lived in Thunder Bay for nine years back in the 70s. I was involved in the process of dismantling and disposal of the shuttered Abitibi Kenora paper mill in 2006/7. Took advantage to do some fishing in Lake of the Woods.
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Thunder Bay, Lake of the Woods: Northern Ontario is where God goes for R&R. I’ve been on a few fly-in fishing trips out of Ignace which, as I’m sure that you know is about 135 mi. NW of Thunder Bay.
Looks more like an 1800S or 1800E to me. 
Cheers!
Oh nice i was living here when the mill shut down. My house is on Lake of the Woods in town …great lake!
Its a 72 1800 E from California
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I know the area well. Knew. It was a long time ago. First full time job out of university in 1975 was logging, 50 miles north of Ignace and 30 miles east of Sioux Lookout. Camp 153 on Lake of Bays. It was a privately held 100 square mile tract of virgin forest. When we pushed the logging roads within portage distance of a previously untouched lake we’d drag in a canoe and fishing gear. They were smallish lakes, 10-15 acres, and invariably full of 1 to 1-1/2 pound walleye. You didn’t need any bait. They’d bite on the bare hook, just about every cast. Great experience.
I’m from Winnipeg but moved to Sioux Lookout in 1994 and then Kenora in 99. My wife is from Ignace.
I do a clutch bleed by myself. I ended up with an extra SS brake line which I attached to the bottom of the slave cylinder. I then ran a new line from the top of the slave back to the 3 inch round hole on the side of the transmission tunnel. I can now sit in the driver’s seat and bleed the clutch myself.
WARNING if you are old and are trying to pull the engine. REMEMBER to disconnect the bleeder nipple from the side of the transmission tunnel. I never figured it out but after a day of pushing and shoving the engine the pipe to the bleed nipple finally broke.
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Thanks very much everyone for your help and suggestions. I learned how to bleed the clutch and it is now functioning perfectly just in time to be put away for the winter. Much appreciated. I bought this one year ago and its been a real learning process but i love the car!
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