View Full Version : brake pedal too soft (have I bled right?)
samg19882
02-06-2009, 18:51
Finally, after however many weeks. I have a set of working calipers on the car. Tried bleeding the brakes today, but with no success. Well, bled 3 out of 4, the last one the nipple rounded even though I was REALLY gentle with it.
Did in the following order according to haynes:
Drivers rear
Passenger front
Passenger rear
Drivers front (although didnt bleed this one because the nipple rounded.)
As far as what we did...
we undid the bleed nipple, compressed the pedal a few times until the fluid came out in a strong stream. Then compressed it one more time, tightened the nipple, and let the brake pedal out slowly. Repeated for each wheel.
The pedal feels exactly the same. The car does stop, but barely. Have we done something wrong you think? Or just not bled the system enough?
Cheers guys!
i would go over them again in the same order to check for air, use a clear pipe into a bottle so you can see when any air comes out untill thats gone, all you need is a mate to sit in the car, keep the res bottle topped up
with the bleed nipple closed pump the pedal a few times then get him to hold it down, while its being held down then open the bleed nipple and you should see if any air comes out, keep repeating untill no air on each corner then move to the next etc
as said remember to keep the res bottle topped up at all times.
hopefully if its just air that will sort it.
16v_paddy
02-06-2009, 22:49
Do it like richy said :wink: You need the clear pipe so you can see if there's any bubbles, just keep pumping till it's all fluid & no bubbles in the pipe & you'll be reet
samg19882
08-06-2009, 20:09
I've done it today with a brake bleed kit. But it's still just the same.
I might just take it to a garage round the corner, cause this is doing my nut in.
you've prob got all the air in that one side that you can't bleed. you can't do 3 of the 4 corners and expect to have a good braking system.
as said u need to bleed the hole system with the car on the floor as well so the bias opens on the back i got 5litres from halfruads for feck all then just kept bleeding till completely new fluid but i did mine rears to front not the haynes way
samg19882
09-06-2009, 18:49
ok cheers for the help guys. I'm out of fluid so will try again tomorrow! :)
samg19882
11-06-2009, 16:40
Man this is killing me..
went round all 4 today. taking my time. Must have bled about 3 litres worth from the car.
Did it until I couldnt see any more bubbles in the one man tube thing. The last wheel took forever. More and more air just kept coming out. I'm shattered!
Anyway, finally, with the engine off, I had a good firm pedal with everything tightened up. Start up the car, and the brake pedal goes straight to the floor. Gutted.
To make things worse, one of the wheel bolts snapped. I guess it was just over-used.
Can anyone advise what might be wrong before I spend money at a garage? Cheers
might be a seal gone in the master cylinder :(
there is a method for checkin to see if the is a fault with the calipers or cylinder i think ask maxi as i am sure it was in one of his threads i read it!!
Cableguy
07-08-2009, 09:50
Sorry this is late but i found it trying to find the brake order.
You cant just pump the pedal with the nipple open.
Pedal down
Open nipple
Close nipple
Pedal up
Pumping it will just throw fluid out and draw air back in.
katbloke
07-08-2009, 10:54
rermember to also bleed with the bias valve open
Sorry this is late but i found it trying to find the brake order.
You cant just pump the pedal with the nipple open.
Pedal down
Open nipple
Close nipple
Pedal up
Pumping it will just throw fluid out and draw air back in.
Not if you are using a one way bleed valve. The method above is a pain in the arse and ideally a 2 man job.
Personally I found the one man bleed kit where you use the spare tyre connected to the fluid top-up is by far the easiest method. I used my one man caliper bleed kit as well as this the best and fastest way.
busterhymes
07-08-2009, 12:01
used one man bleed system when i replaced all my calipers saved loads of time and was able to flush the whole system thru with new fluid really quickly rears calipers seem to need a couple of goes to be completely air free
simonr85
07-08-2009, 13:34
Sorry this is late but i found it trying to find the brake order.
You cant just pump the pedal with the nipple open.
Pedal down
Open nipple
Close nipple
Pedal up
Pumping it will just throw fluid out and draw air back in.
Not if you are using a one way bleed valve. The method above is a pain in the arse and ideally a 2 man job.
Personally I found the one man bleed kit where you use the spare tyre connected to the fluid top-up is by far the easiest method. I used my one man caliper bleed kit as well as this the best and fastest way.
Should you use a flattish spare tire?? as i tried this with 1 of my 32psi tires and brake fluid went everywhere as the lid for master cylinder popped off straight away, it said on the brake bleeder test system with over 20psi, which is what i did lol
busterhymes
07-08-2009, 13:45
you sure you read instructions correctly as my ezi bleed kit says no more than 20 psi :wink:
Cableguy
07-08-2009, 14:15
Sorry this is late but i found it trying to find the brake order.
You cant just pump the pedal with the nipple open.
Pedal down
Open nipple
Close nipple
Pedal up
Pumping it will just throw fluid out and draw air back in.
Not if you are using a one way bleed valve. The method above is a pain in the arse and ideally a 2 man job.
Personally I found the one man bleed kit where you use the spare tyre connected to the fluid top-up is by far the easiest method. I used my one man caliper bleed kit as well as this the best and fastest way.
I never use those one man one way valves, they allow air to travel up the threads on the bleed nipples, depends how anal you want to be i suppose. Eezi bleed is the best compromise if you dont want to be shouting "Up","Down" for 20 mins :D
simonr85
07-08-2009, 14:19
you sure you read instructions correctly as my ezi bleed kit says no more than 20 psi :wink:
i thought is said no more than 20psi at first but it does say test with more than 20psi il take a photo of the bottle with it written all over it, it is ezi bleed too i think
busterhymes
07-08-2009, 14:30
hmmm very odd just re read mine def says use tyre with no more than 20psi :?
simonr85
07-08-2009, 14:49
hmmm very odd just re read mine def says use tyre with no more than 20psi :?
il have another look when i get home, im pretty sure it said over 20 tho because my mate was going to let my tire down till i spotted what it said, well i did it by hand in the end because of that so maybe il have another go this weekend with it inder 20psi :lol:
busterhymes
07-08-2009, 15:22
good luck :wink:
katbloke
07-08-2009, 19:17
Sorry this is late but i found it trying to find the brake order.
You cant just pump the pedal with the nipple open.
Pedal down
Open nipple
Close nipple
Pedal up
Pumping it will just throw fluid out and draw air back in.
Not if you are using a one way bleed valve. The method above is a pain in the arse and ideally a 2 man job.
Personally I found the one man bleed kit where you use the spare tyre connected to the fluid top-up is by far the easiest method. I used my one man caliper bleed kit as well as this the best and fastest way.
I never use those one man one way valves, they allow air to travel up the threads on the bleed nipples, depends how anal you want to be i suppose. Eezi bleed is the best compromise if you dont want to be shouting "Up","Down" for 20 mins :D
Me ezee bleed was rubbish, binned it for the 2 man method
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