Stupid question, I recently bleed the brakes on my neighbors car, used mitivac, all went well. Now I need to replace the driver side caliper as it has locked up, do I need to bleed all 4 again, or can I just do the driver side rear and make sure the fluid level stays full?

Thanks.

 

if you are fixing/replacing just 1 caliper then you can just unhook the line and plug it with something quickly and put it aside

change what you have to change, reinstall, and bleed the one side to get any air (if at all) out

i dont see a need to bleed all 4 again.

 

Thanks. Along those lines, if a caliper with 210k miles on it, has finally locked up, should i just get a new one or try to rebuild it. I'm thinking just get a new or reman'd one.

 

Push the brake pedal down, and hold it with a 2x4 or something. This will prevent the fluid in the line from bleeding out. Then just bleed the replaced caliper.

 

well really, if the caliper housing is intact, i see no need to purchase a new one, you can just a rebuild kit or pay someone to do it.

really if you are going to purchase new calipers you are better of researching a serious upgrade to your brakes to save time and money.

 

Wouldnt pushing on the pedal cause more fluid to come out as its under pressure? Am I confused here?

 

right! it would ensure that no air will enter into the system as it is under internal pressure, making your bleeding job easier once you have the caliper installed again.

 

So I'd need to cap the line on the open end?

 

I'm not an expert on braking systems, but it was a suggestion on another board. I had to rebuild my calipers twice this year, and it kept fluid from dripping out of the line. There is no need to cap it. You'll only lose fluid from the caliper, naturally, and a drop or two from the line. FWIW, this is based on me doing it twice, and it working well; not just an idea I had.