Sludge in brake resevoir

[orin@netcom.com (Orin Eman)]

This Sunday I went to bleed the clutch and as I was removing old fluid,
I got this nasty looking black sludge... needless to say, this isn't good
so I pulled the resevoir and cleaned it up as well as I could before putting
new fluid in.  So, what am I in for?  The clutch master and slave
cylinders were replaced within the last year or so.

As per (Eric's?) suggestions, I made a 'pressure bleeder' from a
junkyard resevoir cap.  No need to drill a hole in it if you get
one with the float and switch and 'gut' it!  It is still a pain to
bleed the clutch - it is so easy to get air in that little chamber
that feeds the clutch master cylinder.  I found that opening the bleeder
screw for a second then closing it for a second and so on worked best -
that way I could let the fluid level rise each time before I opened
the screw (open meant about 1/4 turn).  Clutch is now better than
it was before.  There must be a better way of doing the clutch - maybe
by making a container that has a connection on the bottom that the
hose can be connected to then filling the container with brake fluid
and pressurizing it.  I don't see there being a problem switching the
hose back... 

I followed up with bleeding the brakes last night.  That old fluid
was UGLY brown... rust I guess.

Now I also need the little rubber plugs that go between the resevoir
and the master cylinder.  There was a slight leak there before and
I'm sure I didn't help it.  I'm also thinking of an entirely new
resevoir to make sure there isn't any sludge left.

Orin.