Brakes
03-20-2004, 02:18 PM
#1
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Brakes
Can someone point me to a good link that describes in detail the brake bleeding process.
My brakes go quite spongy after hard braking using Mintex CTech pads and cryo'd rotors / ss brake lines / etc. I'm sure there is some air in the system.
I have only found tips where you press hard on the brake pedal 3 - 5 times with the car up, to build up pressure in the master cylinder (?) so you get air out of there as well?
People talk about bleeding the brakes, and then bleeding the master cylinder...are there separate processes for the two?
Well I"m off to find a pressure bleeder...let me know what to do!
My brakes go quite spongy after hard braking using Mintex CTech pads and cryo'd rotors / ss brake lines / etc. I'm sure there is some air in the system.
I have only found tips where you press hard on the brake pedal 3 - 5 times with the car up, to build up pressure in the master cylinder (?) so you get air out of there as well?
People talk about bleeding the brakes, and then bleeding the master cylinder...are there separate processes for the two?
Well I"m off to find a pressure bleeder...let me know what to do!
03-20-2004, 03:26 PM
#2
Three Wheelin'
Chas,
I'll answer here...just did my entire hydraulic system myself with Super Blue ATE using the Motive Powerbleeder.....
Basically you hook up the power bleeder, test it with air only to make sure you don't have any leaks, then you release pressure, put some brake fluid into the power bleeder and pump it up to ~10-11psi. It will force some liquid up over the hump and into your reservoir. Then you go to each wheel just like you would bleeding normally and all you must do is hook up your "dump" hose to the bleeder vavle, crack it open, wait till you see new fluid (in my case darkish brown to the new blue) and then close the bleeder and go to the next one. Don't forget there are 2 bleeders per caliper!
After I did all of the brake lines I did the slave cylinder which brings the fluid on through the clutch. Very easy again, hook the hose to it (my lil hands meant I didn't have to remove anything to do this) and again, crack it open, wait till you see new fluid (I usually gave it a few seconds to be totally blue before closing) then close the bleeder and you're done.
I didn't use quite 1 liter of fluid for the whole system. Also, as my fluid looked so nasty in the reservoir, I emptied it with a brand new little dropper for mixing model paint with, then filled it with new fluid before starting the procedure.
I did this by myself by jacking up one side/wheel at a time and going RR, RL, RF, LF on the wheels which meant up and down twice on each side, plus leaving it up on the LF time to do the slave. Total time from start to finish for me was about 2 hours, including getting things ready and cleaning most all of my mess up (I did leave some tools out till the next day
).
I love that Motive Power Bleeder.......no worries about air getting back into your lines, no worries (as long as you put enough in to start!) about running out of fluid in the reservior and sucking in air there.
I'll answer here...just did my entire hydraulic system myself with Super Blue ATE using the Motive Powerbleeder.....
Basically you hook up the power bleeder, test it with air only to make sure you don't have any leaks, then you release pressure, put some brake fluid into the power bleeder and pump it up to ~10-11psi. It will force some liquid up over the hump and into your reservoir. Then you go to each wheel just like you would bleeding normally and all you must do is hook up your "dump" hose to the bleeder vavle, crack it open, wait till you see new fluid (in my case darkish brown to the new blue) and then close the bleeder and go to the next one. Don't forget there are 2 bleeders per caliper!
After I did all of the brake lines I did the slave cylinder which brings the fluid on through the clutch. Very easy again, hook the hose to it (my lil hands meant I didn't have to remove anything to do this) and again, crack it open, wait till you see new fluid (I usually gave it a few seconds to be totally blue before closing) then close the bleeder and you're done.
I didn't use quite 1 liter of fluid for the whole system. Also, as my fluid looked so nasty in the reservoir, I emptied it with a brand new little dropper for mixing model paint with, then filled it with new fluid before starting the procedure.
I did this by myself by jacking up one side/wheel at a time and going RR, RL, RF, LF on the wheels which meant up and down twice on each side, plus leaving it up on the LF time to do the slave. Total time from start to finish for me was about 2 hours, including getting things ready and cleaning most all of my mess up (I did leave some tools out till the next day
).I love that Motive Power Bleeder.......no worries about air getting back into your lines, no worries (as long as you put enough in to start!) about running out of fluid in the reservior and sucking in air there.
03-20-2004, 04:04 PM
#3
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Cool, I understand everything except this part:
..but I bet once I buy the power bleeder that part will make perfect sense, I just don't know exactly how one works.
Can you describe right where you attach it to the slave cylinder?
Basically you hook up the power bleeder, test it with air only to make sure you don't have any leaks, then you release pressure, put some brake fluid into the power bleeder and pump it up to ~10-11psi. It will force some liquid up over the hump and into your reservoir. Then you go to each wheel just like you would bleeding normally and all you must do is hook up your "dump" hose to the bleeder vavle, crack it open
Can you describe right where you attach it to the slave cylinder?
03-20-2004, 04:22 PM
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Motive Power Bleeder
The power bleeder is a great product and more information can be found on the Motive Power Bleeder website.
It is also pretty easy to make one using a standard plastic garden sprayer and a motorcycle valve stem as the pressure read port. The trick part is getting the correct adaptor for the fluid reservoir. In my case i needed to bleed the system on one of my Haflingers and use a rubber expansion plug for drainpipe. Drill out the center of the bolt and attach the pressure hose. It should not take more that 5-7 psi to force fluid into the system.
Once you have one its hard to live without!
Drive On,
MeanGreen
It is also pretty easy to make one using a standard plastic garden sprayer and a motorcycle valve stem as the pressure read port. The trick part is getting the correct adaptor for the fluid reservoir. In my case i needed to bleed the system on one of my Haflingers and use a rubber expansion plug for drainpipe. Drill out the center of the bolt and attach the pressure hose. It should not take more that 5-7 psi to force fluid into the system.
Once you have one its hard to live without!
Drive On,
MeanGreen