Bleeding Brakes

[screamingtwin]

I just put on brand new stainless steel brake lines. And I don't know how to make them work again. I tried letting them just sit there so they would gravity feed but it didn't work. I can't seem to get any fluid in the lines? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gobbler]

Yeah they are hard to bleed but the best way I found to speed things up is to take the resi lid of on the handlebars to refill the level as required during the blead, grab yourself some clear rubber tubing that will pressfit over the blead nipple on the caliper and grab a siringe ( spelling ??). Insert the siringe in the other end of the clear rubber hose thats attached to the bleed nipple. Use the siringe to suck the brake fulid down the lines and just expel the fliud into a jug and keep doing this until you have one caliper full, then do the same to the other. Once there both done you can bleed the brakes normally. Also dont let the fluid level in the lever resi fall really low or there will be air in the lines again and you will need to get that out.

 

[Tungsten]

I went though this for a lonnnnnnnnnnng time. Un bolt your calipers and hold them above the mastercyclinder, Then point the bleeders straight up in the air and bleed them.

[screamingtwin]

If you take the hose off the master cylinder should the brake fluid pour out?

[cb67rs1]

it should squirt out if you pull the handle, do the plastic tube thing gobbler said, it works the best. and doesnt take long at all

[nater006]

Two quick fixes:

 

1) get a set of 1-way bleeder bolts. They're meant for 1-man bleeding. You loosen them and just keep pumping the brakes. Lets air/fluid out but nothing back in.

 

2) get a power bleeder. You can buy a basic hand-pump with everything you need from Autozone or Advance Auto parts for around $20-25. Or, you can even get one on Autozone's Loan-A-Tool program and return it and just be out the travel expenses and time. You basically just hook it to the bleeder bolt and pump away. That's how I did my S10.

 

 

If you're doing it the normal way... make sure and pump the brakes up as best as possible before loosening the bleeder bolt. Pump them up till their firm and then loosen and re-tighten them. Otherwise if you just pump once, bleed once, pump once, bleed once... you'll be there for a *long* time.

[screamingtwin]

It only squirsts out once in awhile? Could the master cylinder be bad?If so how much does it cost?

[2stroker]

Your master cyclinder probably isn't bad. It was working before you installed the new lines right? Anyway, do what nater said.

 

Master cyclinder? For you older guys, wasn't he a character in the old Felix the Cat cartoons?

[nater006]

If it was working before and just isn't now, well, you just more than likely still have air in the brake lines. Just make sure and pump them up as best as possible with the bleeder closed, and then open and close it. Pump up again, same thing. You'll get it. It takes a while. It takes a LOT longer if you just pump the brakes once, hold, and then open and shut the bleeder bolt. Pump them up as best as possible... you might not even get any pressure initially if there's a lot of air.. but you'll get it.