Brake bleeding?

[evildave]

My brake pedal is very low but usually comes up after a quick pump, the system has been bled a couple of times but still remains poor. Is this common or is there a better way of getting the air out ie jacking the car up etc???

[Donato]

Jacking the car up wont make any difference.

How are you bleeding it? ie

with a self bleeding kit or

by yourself? do you have a hand off someone when doing it?

[evildave]

local garage has done it for me in the past, i wondered if the brake lines ran parallel to the ground under the car, and could have an air lock. Thought jacking it up may help the air find the highest point of the system. Used to work on my old mk1 escort :confused:

[Donato]

If its blead slowly enough then it should push out any airlock. Fluid will only push past the airlock if the pedal is depressed too quickly. Can you take it back to the garage and get them to do it?

If not then...

If it worked on the escort no reason why you cant try it on the FD.

If you have someone on the pedal who counts as they depress the brake pedal (so it is depressed uniformly and slowly) you should be able to count to about 10 before the pedal hits the floor then this should be slow enough to remove an airlock as the pedal reaches the floor the person at the wheel should close the bleed nipple off so the pedal can be allowed up before being pressed again as the nipple is opened up again (stops air being sucked back i to the system) do this repeatedly and it should work.
I think the wheels will be paired in diagonals ie bleed the back left then the front right and vice versa.....making sure the fluid is constantly topped up as you bleed the system.

If done like this it should remove any air lock....

Cheers

Donato

[evildave]

cheers, i\'ll give it a go at the weekend if i can get the jack under it

[jonrx7uk]

I was told to do mine:-

nearside rear
offside rear
nearside front
clutch
offside front

did it myself in about an hour, and used about a litre of brake fluid (i bought one of those kits with pipe into the bottle things...)

brake felt better straight away

[Matts-gen2]

I might be being a idiot, but can someone just cofirm that the brake pedal should be pressed to the floor before the bleed nipple is opened?

Thanks.

[mpk490p]

no get a mate to push the pedel when you have opened the bleed nipple (it doesn\'t have to be open much just a turn) get your mate to push the pedal down slowley a couple of times then keep it down while you tighten up the bleed nipple, the process is the same on all cars it just the order you do the calipers, always work from the longest to the shortest distance from the main brake servo

Mark

[David Nock (RIP)]

no get a mate to push the pedel when you have opened the bleed nipple (it doesn\'t have to be open much just a turn) get your mate to push the pedal down slowley a couple of times then keep it down while you tighten up the bleed nipple, the process is the same on all cars it just the order you do the calipers, always work from the longest to the shortest distance from the main brake servo

Mark

Exactly as Mark says. When my dear little wife helps me with this (she\'s a trained brake bleeding pedal operative) she knows that I always call for about 3 or 4 down strokes on the brake peddle, nipping the nipple up after each one, then a "down slow" on the last press for each wheel, because I will nip the brake nipple up tight halfway down the stroke i.e. as the fluid is coming out. This stops any chace of any air coming back through the nipple.

[Matts-gen2]

3 or 4 strokes okay.

What and close up after each stroke, is that what you mean.

That makes sense, otherwise the bubbles are gona go backwards and forwards, if you keep pumping up and down.

It all suddenly becomes clear.

Thanks

[David Nock (RIP)]

Yes exactly, a mate puts pressure on the brake pedal, you release the nipple, pedal goes down, fluid comes out, then you tighten up the nipple before you shout to your mate to let the pedal up. Repeat as many times as you need to to get all old fluid out of the lines and always nip up the nipple half way down the last peddle stroke you want to make. Remember to keep the master cylinder topped up with fresh fluid because your mate\'s pumping it out of the nipple at a fair old rate. Follow the sequence Mark says in his post, furthest wheel first, moving to nearest wheel last.
My advice is to change fluid throughout at least every 3 years, to avoid internal seizing of callipers in old age. I\'m old now and no seized parts. (Car is 23, I\'m a bit less than 3 times that).
David

[Matts-gen2]

Doh! The rears have two bleed nipples.

What a donkey!

Re-bled rears, pedal well firm now, well now i know for the future.