Another Rookie Mistake

[bret]

Hey guys,

Tried to bleed my brake lines and now my brakes don't work. I took off both the upper and lower hoses and now I guess there is air in them. How do I get my brakes to work again?

 

[jriehl08]

Make sure res is full and open the bleeder on the caliper. walk away and let them gravity bleed for a while. Otherwise close bleeder pump 4-5 times then while holding lever to the bar crack bleeder then close and repeat until you have pressure.

 

[retiredgentleman]

If the upper and lower hoses, are both original 30+ years old rubber hoses, it would be wise to replace them with one braided steel line. The old hoses are not safe anymore and tend to expand slightly with pressure.

When I install brake lines on my bike, I prefill the lines on the bench. By prefilling there is no air in the lines,so you get a solid brake lever right away.

 

[5twins]

With drained lines, one of those vacuum pumps like the MityVac can really help to get the fluid through the lines initially. Without that, it can take lots and lots of lever pumping and bleed nipple opening/closing. It may have been happening for you, you may just not have kept at it long enough.

 

[bret]

jriejl: can you explain this again: "Make sure res is full and open the bleeder on the caliper."

I don't understand.

 

[I am Carbon]

I agree a vac pump works the best.

 

[bret]

I've got a tube attached to the nipple and i pumped the brake lever for about 5 minutes. the end of the tube is in a jar and submerged in brake oil. about 1 out of every 3 pumps i can see bubbles come out of the end and rise. is it working and just going to take forever?

 

[bret]

Also, the brake lever is extremely easy to pump still. no resistance really

 

[wherearewe]

A little hand vacuum pump is the way to go. You can buy them off ebay really cheap - not nec. as good as a named brand like MityVac but for the weekend warrior fine.

 

[5twins]

I don't think your bleeding technique is correct. You're not supposed to pull AND release the lever while the bleed nipple is open, only pull it. You then close the nipple and release it. Then you pump it as many times as needed to build some pressure at the lever, hold it, open the nipple, and close it when the lever pulls into the bar. Repeat and repeat and repeat until all the air is expelled.

 

[bret]

Got it fixed everybody! Thank you all so much for your help!

 

[gggGary]

Which method worked for you?

 

[bret]

I used the method from the video that "I am Carbon" posted up there. Had to play around with the needle a bit but eventually it worked .