Clutch system - bleed — VW
Clutch system - bleed on VW: 13 steps. What to remove, in what order, and what to check after.
Bleeding the clutch hydraulics on the VW models with the platform codes listed below uses the brake fluid reservoir and a pressure bleeder rather than pumping the pedal alone. The car goes up on the lift, the brake filling and bleeding equipment is connected and set to 2 bar, and a hose goes onto the bleed valve of the slave cylinder. A first quantity of about 100 cm3 is let out, then the pedal is worked quickly stop to stop 10 to 15 times to dislodge trapped air before another 50 cm3 is bled. The thing that decides it is that pedal-pumping stage with the valve shut; without it, air stays in the master cylinder and the pedal stays soft.
🧭 Before you start
Raise the car, connect the pressure bleeder at 2 bar and fit the hose to the slave cylinder bleed valve. Open the valve, let out about 100 cm3 and close it. Pump the pedal quickly stop to stop 10 to 15 times, reopen the valve to bleed a further 50 cm3, close it and check the pedal by pressing it several times.
Fits: platform codes 6A1, 6A5
- Opens: brake fluid
Don't miss
- Keep the bleeder pressure at 2 bar throughout.
- Pump the pedal only with the bleed valve closed.
- Bleed the second 50 cm3 after pumping to carry out air pushed down from the master cylinder.
- Check the clutch pedal feel and fluid level before lowering the car.
Written for this job from the workshop steps below · TorqFix editorial.
📋 Procedure
- Lift the vehicle
- Connect the Brake filling and bleeding equipmentVAS 5234 or Brake bleeding deviceV.A.G 1869.
- When required, use 670-mm long hoseVAG 1238 B3.
- Install the bleeder hose on the impelling cylinder (arrow) and open the bleeding valve.
- Pressurize the system to 2 bar.
- Open the bleeding valve.
- Bleed approximately 100 cm3 of brake fluid.
- Close the bleeding valve.
- Press quickly the pedal from stop to stop, 10 to 15 times.
- Open the bleeding valve.
- Let bleed additional 50 cm3 of brake fluid.
- Close the bleeding valve.
- Press the clutch pedal several times.
Other VW procedures
- Removing engine · 41 torque figures
- Removing and installing camshaft – VW Golf Cabriolet · 47 torque figures
- Adjusting valve timing – VW Passat B5 · 83 torque figures
- Removing and installing camshafts – VW Passat B6 · 39 torque figures
- Removing and installing coolant pump · 53 torque figures
- Adjusting pinion shaft – VW Passat B5 · 8 torque figures
- Installing and tensioning toothed belt – VW 1.6 TDI CAYB/CAYC · 7 torque figures
- Removing and installing centre console without armrest · 9 torque figures
- Removing and installing timing chain and drive chain for oil pump · 6 torque figures
- Toothed belt - remove and install · 5 torque figures
Who makes these pages, and how
TorqFix was built by a mechanic — after a 2,700 km drive with five roadside repairs that no diagnostic tool could explain.
The figures on this page come from manufacturer workshop documentation and are shown as they are. The page is assembled automatically from that data — it is not written by an AI. The AI works in the chat, where it answers for your specific car. It writes nothing here.
Variants of the same model differ. Cross-check torque against the factory manual for your engine before final tightening.
Seen a figure that does not match your manual? Write to us — we correct it and note when. support@torqfix.com
The story behind TorqFix →Workshop data on this page last updated 20 Sep 2026.