Pros and bleeding brakes?
- Thread starter D1dad
- Start date
New pads & rotors alone will cause the pedal to feel spongy compared to seated pads & rotors.
Most vehicles do not require special tools to bleed after replacing calipers....Just don't let the master cylinder run dry!!
What vehicle is this?
Most vehicles do not require special tools to bleed after replacing calipers....Just don't let the master cylinder run dry!!
What vehicle is this?
Speed Bleeders work great for me, plus depending on your car's age, it is highly likely you may need a scan tool/tablet to bleed your ABS pump unit. In 2019 when I wanted to bleed my 2018 Hyundai Kona 1.6T AWD, I had to buy a $250 scan tool that was the only non pro one at the time that had that option. It took a good while for my 2021 X-Tool D7 to finally update (2023) that function for a Hyundai/Kia.
https://www.russellperformance.com/...ic-speed-bleeder-with-10mm-x-1-0-in-pair.html
.
https://www.russellperformance.com/...ic-speed-bleeder-with-10mm-x-1-0-in-pair.html
.
Last edited:
I have a cheap Amazon Orion pressure bleeder…didn’t work. I’m doing this on my 18 Nissan and can’t get this sucker right. There’s no abs to bleed via scan tool, the fsm says to unhook the negative terminal to disable the abs. I used to use a little hand pump on each caliper that worked well but that was an Amazon cheapie and it broke the last time I used it. I’ve tried everything that’s worked in my 30 plus years of bleeding brakes with no success.
I had success using the Phoenix Systems V5 reverse bleeder as discussed in Post #15 in this previous BITOG thread. My history with a Motive Pressure Bleeder has been like yours...doesn't work well on my vehicles, even with the expensive custom caps.
Yea, that would be a problem. Glad you worked it out!
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2022
- Messages
- 5,931
Glad it got fixed, I wasn't following the person paid by the hour and repeated drives lol
But I've done both and as a matter of fact didn't have the Motive when I replaced a Maxima caliper, so I had my wife step on the brakes. I used the Motive when I did the BMW ABS pump. Both methods work, but with the human, it's critical that they don't push the pedal too far.
But I've done both and as a matter of fact didn't have the Motive when I replaced a Maxima caliper, so I had my wife step on the brakes. I used the Motive when I did the BMW ABS pump. Both methods work, but with the human, it's critical that they don't push the pedal too far.
You can place a small length of 2 by 4 under the brake pedal too prevent that
ChrisFix has a good video on one person brake bleeding here
This has worked for me every time except once on one of the front calipers of my 2002 E150. Don't know why but couldn't get anything to come out and had to resort to the MityVac to suck it out. I change brake fluid every 30K. It will save you a lot of trouble. Still running the OE calipers on my 2006 Aveo with over 266K.
This has worked for me every time except once on one of the front calipers of my 2002 E150. Don't know why but couldn't get anything to come out and had to resort to the MityVac to suck it out. I change brake fluid every 30K. It will save you a lot of trouble. Still running the OE calipers on my 2006 Aveo with over 266K.
I had it bled in 5 minutes to perfection. I can’t believe I did something so stupid and fought with these things for a whole day! I had so much fluid flushing through the system it was coming out spotless clean. I’ll never do that again.
I've run the gambit of bleeding brakes. Vacuum bleeding (miti-vac), conventional (person pumping the brake lever), and pressure, and hands down, pressure works best. Get an adapter that fits your master cylinder, and a Motive bug sprayer pump. Some people fill the sprayer tank with brake fluid, but I just used it to push air on top of fluid in the reservoir. So simple, and effective. A one person job.
I do it the traditional way, it literally takes five minutes with a helper once I'm set to go.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Sometimes when one gets too much air into the system it will take a lot more than just the usual quickie pumping the pedal to remove it all.
I have seen times when two to three attempts (pumping the pedals) have failed. Those couple of times it took a good manual brake bleeder pump and several fills and flushes to do the trick. Not often but it can happen depending on what kind of things were done. Like master cylinder change out..... etc...
I have seen times when two to three attempts (pumping the pedals) have failed. Those couple of times it took a good manual brake bleeder pump and several fills and flushes to do the trick. Not often but it can happen depending on what kind of things were done. Like master cylinder change out..... etc...
Last edited:
Tell more about the not pushing the pedal too far.
This happens often. Don't feel bad.
Many calipers are the same casting and you can see the blank where you'd drill and tap either way to dictate left or right. I've often thought it might be cool to just have all calipers tapped for both. Then you couldn't install on the wrong side and ordering and stocking would be simpler.
I'm always terrified of absent-mindedly ordering the incorrect side, and I've received remans that were boxed incorrectly. The first thing I do when I receive a caliper is open it and make sure the bleeder would be topside when in position.
Meh, I think that's 1) partly application-specific and 2) partly urban legend.
If the pedal going to the floor destroys an mc that seems like a safety issue to me. There'd be no point in dual-circuit brakes because if you lose EITHER front or rear, yeah, you're gonna kinda-sorta have brakes but the pedal will still go ~90% (or more) to the floor. Think about how much it sinks when you crack a bleeder -- same as blowing a line.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Its easy to laugh about things well after the fact. I have installed things upside down / bass ackwards a few times over the years. Felt like a real goof once I realized what I was doing wrong. STUFF Happens to us all.
HEY, Those who DO NOTHING make very few mistakes! Maybe some of us end up better at things once we have learned from silly mistakes. I am just glad none of my cost me too much money or hard work to correct.
HEY, Those who DO NOTHING make very few mistakes! Maybe some of us end up better at things once we have learned from silly mistakes. I am just glad none of my cost me too much money or hard work to correct.
Similar threads
