Brake bleed advice

[Jambo_H]

Good evening everyone,

I hope you are all keeping well in these strange times.

Now that the weather has turned for the better , I'm going to have go at bleeding my brakes. I have watched videos on-line, and it seems easy enough. In both videos the work was done with the wheels off the car, however one presenter said it could be done with the wheels on.

Has anyone tried it?

wheels on of off ? how did it go? any tips?

Thanks in advance, and stay safe.

 

 

[Neil E]

Hi Andy,

I can't remember the last time I did it but I would not normally expect to remove the wheels to bleed the brakes. Is this to replace old brake fluid or do you suspect there is air or debris in the system? If you don't have a pressure bleeder, the 2 person method is quickest.

The SC is quite low so it isn't the easiest, turning the front wheels on full lock one way and then the other might help access to the bleed screws on the front. If you can get the car in the air a little that will help too. 

[steve2006]

Start with the calliper furthest away from the master cylinder so normally NS rear, OS rear, NS front and OS front. I use one of those one way bleed pipes which cost a couple of pounds. If you are replacing the fluid I generally pump the pedal with the nipple open around 15 times then top up the reservoir again. 25 pumps on the rears and 15 on the fronts generally suffices or use a clear jam jar and empty every top up to see when the fluid becomes clear then you know the new stuff has gone through completely. Gentle with the bleed nipples, a squirt of WD 40 the day before helps and use a single hex ring spanner not a socket to give better feedback on tightness.

When pumping the pedal push down slowly to the floor than keep your foot on the pedal to allow it to come back up slowly.

Don’t over tighten the bleed nipples they just need nipping up.

I always do mine with the wheel off, one at a time, it gives you better access and you can put the jar closer.

Hydraulic jack and axle stand for safety.

A litre is adequate for replacing the fluid.

[Jambo_H]

Thanks for the responses guys, I'll get them done this week

 

[steve2006]

If possible the colour of the brake fluid is checked on an MOT, if it looks “old” this can result in an advisory on the test. Not a problem as such just replace the fluid but if you are selling the car it may put off potential purchasers’ who check the MOT history and think poor maintenance regime .......move on.

[Bob King]

Wheels off to do a proper job, I used a vacuum bleeder so no need to pump the pedal, you can stand and watch the fluid level drop and top up as needed, after say 30 secs lock up nipple and go onto the next corner of the car.

Several vacuum kits in eBay ....just don’t buy cheap 👍🏻