The problem seems to be the fact that even with the bleeder valve open on the slave cylinder, I cannot for the life of me get the rod in the master cylinder to stay down in the cylinder itself. Is it supposed to be spring loaded or something? I know when I bought the new slave cylinder a few years ago it was basically zip-tied down so the rod would not pop out. Is this the same for the master cylinder, or do I need to buy a new one now?

 

which are you talking about the slave cylinder or the master cylinder.
in your question you describe both...

 

sorry, the problem is with the clutch master cylinder. I mention the slave because I replaced that a year or so ago, and when I bought it it seemed like it was spring loaded or something to that effect, it was basically zip tied down. I was wondering if the master cylinder was the same way. I can push the master cylinder rod in, but as soon as I let off it pops right back out. Im trying to figure out if this is normal, and if it is how do I re-install the master?

 

Yes this is normal, just bolt it back down and connect it to your pedal, should be fine from there :-)

 

make sure you bench bleed the master cylinder before you install it . or you will sit there for ever pumping your brake pedal.

and yes that is normal.

 

Ive always had a friend help me when it came to hydraulics, so Im sort of a novice at this. I know bench bleed means getting all the air out of the lines before installation, but how?

I had one guy tell me years ago that (at least for third gens) I could install the master/slave cylinders, pour in as much fluid as the resevoir would hold, and check it in about a day. Poor and inefficient way I know, but the car's a weekend warrior, and I only have time to work on the weekends so im not in any rush. Ever heard of this technique?