cog-n-chips

Hi guys, hope you are all having more festive cheer than I am. I replaced the clutch and slave-cylinder week before xmas and just can't seem to get it to bleed after 3 days trying... yes, that old chestnut

I have tried reverse bleeding by injecting fluid into the bleed-nipple on the slave-cylinder, which expelled some large bubbles from the reservoir, but nothing... the clutch pedal just flops down and does not return.

I went back to normal bleeding, though the bleed-nipple is up in the trans-tunnel and only turns a fraction so this is a horrible job. Today I tried an 'easy-bleed' kit, which works and pumps fluid through the reservoir and out of the bleed-nipple on the slave-cylinder, no air coming through save for a couple of very tiny bubbles. I repeated the pressure bleed process 5 times, emptying 5 full chambers of fluid and re-collecting it in a jar. No air is coming out.

Still the clutch pedal just flops down and despite all the pressure-bleeding is no stiffer down at the bottom than after the regular bleed process. I am at a bit of a loss, I can hear air squelching when pumping the zero-resistance pedal / master-cylinder. I have tried leaving the clutch down, which pushes the clutch back up when reverse-bleeding, but nothing when pressure-bleeding. The pedal offers no resistance even after many pumps doing the normal bleed process. The master-cylinder worked before I did the clutch, I see no reason why it would fail completely now, though I am wondering if the master-cylinder was failing before and could be the reason my clutch has worn out...

I believe this bleeding issue is common in certain models, anyone know if there is something key I am missing?