Good grief I’ve never had so much trouble bleeding brakes!
Two days it took me TWO!
I was just bragging to Gary a few days ago that I’ve never had any trouble bleeding brakes. Well I jinxed myself pretty good. My Mighty Vac brake bleeder broke the last time I used it, but I thought no biggie, I’ll just do it the old fashioned way. Ha! I could not get even one little tiny bit of line pressure, so Harbor Freight was having one of their perpetual sales and I ran up there to get another one, but instead I picked up their house brand knock off for less than half the price and at check out I had an additional 20% off. Winner winner chicken dinner!
Back home with my new brake fluid super sucker and
I pumped and pumped for two solid hours and even though I moved a whole lotta fluid through the system, I could not get any line pressure. By now I was getting plenty tired and cranky, so I just walked away and said tomorrow is another day.
Tues morning rolls around and I kept running Gary’s advice through my head.
PS bleeding goes so much better with the caliper off and separated from the carrier and pads. Pump into and retract piston with a c-clamp, a few times........ bingo, bango, done!
So I tried that. Everything back off and C clamp at the ready and I got started. That’s when I had an epiphany, my caliper piston, no matter how much I worked my brake lever was barely moving. The master cylinder piston was not traveling full stroke. The MC piston was sticking before returning to the fully open position. As soon as I freed it up, things began to rapidly improve. I was able to build line pressure and get the air out of the line.
By the end of the day , I had everything buttoned up, no leaks and a nice firm lever feel. I had that danged caliper on and off so many times that my new paint suffered some wear, but it still looks better than before. And those little shims? Well I sure hope they work, they were like juggling cats trying to get everything together without them falling out or shifting out of position. If I were to do it again, I think a small drop of glue between the back of the brake pads and those shims, to hold them in place , would be very helpful.
So let’s recap....
Stripped and painted caliper and carrier
New EBC brake pads
Installed new ( used ) anti squeal shims ( Thanks Gary! )
Resurfaced brake disc
Bought a new tool and got to play in the garage for several days ( priceless!
)
Tomorrow or the next day, I’ll get it out for a test ride, but I don’t anticipate any problems.
Hmmmm......what can I do next!
Later, Bob