Bleeding Magura Clara/Julie Discs

Bit late to this thread but you've the same brakes as I. The original Louise. Mine are 20+ years old and still working ok. As you've discovered, you need to remove the little grub screw from inside the pad adjuster, then use the correct fitting to screw in and attach a syringe. My rear needs bleeding but I do have the correct kit with the fitting, the bleeding process is usually a piece of cake.
 
Sorry for not updating the status of the issue sooner... I did find someone on the Paceline that had one of those old Magura bleeder fittings sitting in his tool box—and he did sell it to me. It's a simple fitting but one made by Magura and no longer available. It's impossible to properly bleed the Claras or Julies without it. You can monkey-rig it and get it ~80% bled, but that's not good enough. The fitting is necessary to bleed these old brakes.

Once I had the proper fitting, bleeding and getting full pressure was easy. I did end up straightening and putting a slight countersink edge on the drilled holes in both of the rotors and installing brand new pads, and the brakes only howl once in a while now. Full pad feel and a bit of noise I can tolerate.

If I had it to do over, I would have bit the bullet at the beginning and put a set of contemporary Shimano or Avid calipers and levers on it, and I still might. Eventually this bike will be brought further into today with 6-bolt hubs in the wheels and a 1x drivetrain. For now, though, it works well and doesn't scream at me every time I ride it, so I'm happy with the results. For now. 😉
 
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