bleeding brakes

Ive always left brake related business for the professionals. wanna eliminate spongeyness from brake pedal though.
discs front and drums back.

whats the correct procedure? Ive only ever been the pedal pusher in the past.

open lid on brake fluid reservoir
crack nipple on back of brakes
keep pushing pedal up and down until fluid comes out nipple (using pipe into bottle or similar)
topping up reservoir as required as you go
tighten nipple back up
repeat for other 3 corners.

does this sound about right?

 

Close.


Let's take it one at a time:

So far so good!

Good.

To clarify, you want to connect a small length of plastic hose to the nipple at the brake and immerse it in jar of brake fluid. You do not want the end of this tube exposed to air. When you pump on the pedal, air will first come out of the tube, and you'll see that as bubbles in the fluid. When you release the pedal, if the tube is not immersed in fluid, air will be sucked right back in again, and you'll have accomplished nothing. You want to push air out and draw fluid in. Keep pumping the pedal until no more air is ejected from the tube, then remove the tube and reattach the cover to the nipple. Then proceed to the next wheel. Top up the reservoir as needed.

You want to start at the wheel furthest from the fluid reservoir and work your way to the closest. I don't know if things are reversed in Australia with right hand drive, but with left-hand drive, the reservoir is in the left front of the car, so you start right rear, then left rear, then right front, then left front.


Unless you get one of those "self-bleeding" brake kits, bleeding brakes is not something that's easy to do by yourself. You need someone at each wheel watching what happens each time the pedal is pumped, and you need someone to pump the pedal.

 

thanks jaunty!
yeah I need my dad to be home so he can lend a hand at either end. good to know about starting at furtherst away wheel - wouldn't have thought of that. its a 73 impala I just got for a steal (by aussie standards) not the olds so the brake reservoir is where it should be. thanks again.

 

LM , before you release or open the nipple as per 75s instructions you will also need to pump the brake peddle at least several times until some pressure/ resistance is felt then you should only open the nipple for a very short time and reclose . this is normally a 2 person job if you were to send me a PM I could give you a call so you have some finer points on this procedure if only I was a typist

 

And as a master tech, I would recommend a quick inspection and if there are no system leaks (check under the MC where it bolts to the booster also), then adjust the rear drums. Out-of-adjustment drums will give long pedal travel, which is sometimes confused with a soft pedal.

 

I'll suggest that this is irrelevant on a dual-circuit brake system. Since there is no fluid connection between the front and back circuits, starting at either the front or the back has no affect on the other circuit - and I have started at either end randomly with no ill effects. I believe this is a carry-over from the days of single-circuit brakes.

 

I'd say still start at either end at the line farthest away. One person pumps then holds the pedal firmly.
Other person then opening the bleeder until air flows into fluid from a small hose emersed in the brake fluid. Closing the bleeder immediately. Repeat until no air. Each time saying "Okay" so pedal pusher knows bleeder is closed and ready to pump again.
Make sure the master remains filled.

The two most important parts of a car are the steering and brakes. You may not be able to aim it away from a brick wall when the steering goes out. But with brakes you can stop before you hit it!:banghead3:

 

Thanks for the info guys! Dad and I did the brakes on the weekend. I had a new fangled tube with one way valve I bought. was very handy. You could probably do the job yourself. We did it together though. the right rear took ages for fluid to come through but the others were pretty good. No working battery that day to start car and test but I'll remedy that today with any luck.

 

pedal now has consistent stiffness so id say itll be fine

 

I forgot. Somewhere I have one of those one way bleeder lines. Helped a lot I'm sure.

 

That's what she said! *ba-domp boom chish*

 

I usually gravity bleed brakes. Open the bleeder fitting on the wheel cylinder or caliper, let fluid trickle out, watching for bubbles. When no bubbles are seen, close bleeder and go to next wheel if bleeding all of them. No pumping or special tools needed.

 

all good. test drove today. plenty of stop. thanks guys

 

Good to hear everything is going good.

 

Good. Check your mail for the bill!