Thread: Little advice regarding Brakes

you could also just try to gravity bleed.......

it just may work.......




open one bleed nipple at a time........and just wait.......brake fluid should start to dribble out slowly......
just wait till clear bubblefree fluid comes out and then close off the nipple and go to the next one........
during this process....DO NOT ALLOW THE MASTER CYLINDER TO DROP BELOW HALF FULL........
keep it topped up......the fuller the betterer........

if the master is full of air....it may need to be bled before you can bleed the rest of the system.......

but try the gravity bleed first......its an easy one man operation......time consuming.....but may just get you out of trouble......

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

I wouldnt advise it but it does work...

the biggest problem with it is that its very very easy to put the pressure on and then blow all the fluid out in one shot.... then youve got air under pressure filling the lines and it will airate (ron help) the fluide thats left behind and that just makes it a total bugger to sort out.

He does it to his MTB brakes, I suppose that on a smaller scale like that it would be okay, but I see your point if the reservoir empties, bigger headache.

looks like i will be able to spare a few hours tomorrow.....from about midday.....weather permitting......

if you want to pm me a contact number i can give you a buzz if i will come over.....

Originally Posted by gumby190

I went to Supercheap & bought one of those one man bleed hoses, either I am half a man or it is craptastic(later would be my choice) I can not get any pressure to my brakes, fluid no worries, ask the dead patch of lawn..

I can answer one of your questions:
It is craptastic.

I bought a one man bleed kit (from Repco i think) for my clutch (a bit different i know, but a bit easier too i would think). Couldn't get it to work properly. I read the instructions over and over (pretty basic really). Just simply didn't work. Got the wife in the drivers seat and did it the standard open-press-close-release way. Was done in 5 mins.

I bought one of these years ago, makes bleeding very easy

Gunsons Ezibleed one man bleeder

Martyn

A South African female nurse on a S.A. Landy Website suggested using a large plastic syringe (dead cheap to buy without a needle) and to squirt the fluid in from the wheel cylinder end using a bit of tubing. This is a variation on the oil can idea above but I have used this for years with great success. Unless the pipes on a S3 have been re-plumbed, the original LR ones have kinks in them that trap air bubbles no matter what you do with the conventional method (female in car; male underneath; 'Hold it down now!').

Master cylinders have an unfortunate habit of failing after repairs to the brake system which involve bleeding the system by pumping the pedal to move the fluid through the system. This is due to the fluid usually being neglected and not being changed regularly, as in annually, crud builds up on the walls of the master cylinder and can cause rust to form. When the piston travels further down the cylinder bore than usual the seal is exposed to the contaminated / damaged section damaging the seal.

The best way to bleed the system is to use a low pressure pump type bleeder. A UK company called Gunsons makes (or at least used to make) a home / handyman version which is basically a bottle filled with fresh fluid that attaches to the (filled) reservoir via a hose with a suitable adaptor and another hose that attaches to the air supply which is actually one of your tyres (!) drop the pressure to about 10psi and then bleed as usual (furthest bleeder first, nearest last). on drum brakes it's best to bleed with the adjusters backed off then adjust the brakes. The best way to check a master cylinder is to hold your foot gently on the pedal gradually increasing pressure, the pedal shouldn't drop.

Hope this helps.

I'll stick with the oil can