Did a solo brake fluid change tonight...

[highfigh]

And I may have screwed up?

So I didn't have an extra hand tonight, and I went and got one dem der fancy hand pumps for bleeding brakes. First caliper I do, it just doesn't seem right. I attach everything, then pump the pump up to about 15, open the bleeder, and it just comes out wierd. I'm expecting a steady flow of brake fluid, instead I get mostly air and some fluid. I did finally fill up the pump reservoir (about 3/4 cup) but it took forever and a lot of air was bubbling in the container.

Am I doing something totally wrong? I've always done this with two people and never had any issues. Now i'm worried I've got air in the system. The way it looked when I was doing it you would of thought I had more air in my lines than brake fluid.?? And my brakes were fine before this.

Gonna go take a careful spin and see what damage I've done.

Say that I did get air in, is it difficult to get out? Mostly worried because i've never done a car with ABS so I don't know what that does to the equation. Anyone who has used one of these handy dandy pumps, what was your experience?

Thanks...

[blown03Mach1]

most likely got some air past were the bleeder screws into the caliper.

[highfigh]

Originally Posted by blown03Mach1

most likely got some air past were the bleeder screws into the caliper.

Yea, that went through my head when I was doing it. Did i open the bleeder screw too far?

Well, anyways I just took it for a spin. I guess it's ok. But I may have just a little spongyness(sp?)

But now i've got another question, lol... When I brake hard, and the front compresses, I hear a grinding sound in the front. What, most likely, is this? Just installed new semi-met's up front and turned the rotors. Could it be the pads?

[65fastback2+2]

ive just always done gravity fed...however, ive never had any of them stream a steady flow. that being said, if air is coming out thats good since thats what you are doing...bleeding the air out

[highfigh]

Originally Posted by 65fastback2+2

ive just always done gravity fed...however, ive never had any of them stream a steady flow. that being said, if air is coming out thats good since thats what you are doing...bleeding the air out

Yea, i'm thinking it was the air getitng throught he bleeder screw threads. I only did the rr, the finished the others with hose in a cup of fluid. Should have stayed away from the unnecessary brake fluid gizmo.

[XB70]

You bought the wrong gizmo.

Get a Motive Power Bleeder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0h5bMoW-aw

[one mach 1]

I have a craftsman hand pump and the air is coming from around the rubber fitting that you attach to the bleeder screw. Craftsman says in the manual that the air is normal and it is not coming from the brake line or bleeder screw. Mine works perfect, tight like it came from the factory. If your resevoir goes dry, then you have to bleed the system all over again. I pump it to 15lbs and watch the resevoir adding fluid as it pulls out the old. Hope this helps.

[CompOrange]

What order did you use for bleeding the brakes?

And for the record, I hate those hand held pumps and the mitty-vac setups. I've found the best methods are gravity bleeding or as XB70 mentioned, the Motive Power Bleeder is AWESOME You know when you've got all the air out as you get a really nice steady stream of clean fluid.

[highfigh]

Originally Posted by one mach 1

I have a craftsman hand pump and the air is coming from around the rubber fitting that you attach to the bleeder screw. Craftsman says in the manual that the air is normal and it is not coming from the brake line or bleeder screw. Mine works perfect, tight like it came from the factory. If your resevoir goes dry, then you have to bleed the system all over again. I pump it to 15lbs and watch the resevoir adding fluid as it pulls out the old. Hope this helps.

Yea, that helps thanks! That's the thing with buying tools from Harbor Freight. The tools either have limited instructions or need some tweaking to get to work right. I bought a HB pulley puller and the threads on the center stud were so full of burs and crap, but once I cleaned it up it worked fine. Anyways my brakes are great now. Never got air in like i thought i did.

[highfigh]

Originally Posted by CompOrange

What order did you use for bleeding the brakes?

And for the record, I hate those hand held pumps and the mitty-vac setups. I've found the best methods are gravity bleeding or as XB70 mentioned, the Motive Power Bleeder is AWESOME You know when you've got all the air out as you get a really nice steady stream of clean fluid.

Order: P r, D r, P f, D f

Yea, the motive bleeder looks pretty sweet. 65 bucks ain't bad, i'll probably get one next time I change fluid.

I guess the hand pump works ok, it just takes too long!

[CompOrange]

On these cars it might be over kill but I always do the Master, then the RP, RD, FP, FD, and then the master one more time. Just personal preference so you don't blow all that shitty fluid through your calipers. Might be over kill.

[RAT]

I always empty the M/C first with a turkey baster, clean the reservoir and then add the new fluid. The fluid will still be a little dirty so I don't fill it to the top, maybe half way. I then bleed the M/C to get out most of the contaminated fluid. Top the fluid off and start on the rr, lr, rf, lf. The fluid in the lines is a lot darker than the fresh clean fluid in the m/c which make it very easy to see when all of the old fluid is out of the lines. If you got any air in the system, it will come out at this time also. The whole point in this is to not push any dirty fluid through the complete system. You waist a lot of time bleeding all of the old fluid in the m/c through the lines. Save time and empty it first.
When you bleed the rr, you can remove all of the old fluid if you bleed it a bit longer. You still had some old fluid the m/c when it was bled. But, between bleeding the m/c and the rr you should get all of the contaminated (moister, dirt) fluid out of the system.

[Nekasrof]

I love my Motive power bleeder. Use it a lot and it's the only way to go. Except when I change the calipers. The 1st bleed still needs ya to pump the pedal after using the Motive. The force from pumping just pushes the air out that gets trapped inside.
If your fluid is anything but clear, it's time to flush.