• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.

    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

brake bleeding

Country flag
Offline
Well, you all were right. The Mityvac sucks (pun). I got so much air I could not tell when the brake fluid was clear of bubbles. I had worse peddle pressure when I was done. Tomorrow I'll get my wife to do the pumping while I use the tube and jar method. That method I know works. I was trying to save time and I wasted money instead.
 
Optometrist wife's are good for that ...mine has bled at least a dozen cars.......good visual therapy
 
HEALEYJAG said:
Optometrist wife's are good for that ...mine has bled at least a dozen cars.......good visual therapy
Same can said for Audiologists (her, not me) although I can't be certain she's listening for bubbles...
 
Done! So easy. You should have seen all the carp that came out. Where does it come from? While I was under the front end I replaced the bushings on the front end anti-sway bar. They lasted only two years. How tight should I tighten them? The old ones split why to soon and I'm thinking they were compressed too much last time.
Yes, my bride did the pumping. She wasn't comfortable having driven a covet off jack stands 25 years ago.
Jaghealey, I guess optometrists like old cars. I just met one who has a TR3 and my associate has and MGB-GT.
Rich
 
I would compress the bushings to 75%-80% of their new thickness, no more. I've got some six year old Moss bushings that are still in very good condition.
D
 
tahoe healey said:
Well, you all were right. The Mityvac sucks (pun). I got so much air I could not tell when the brake fluid was clear of bubbles. I had worse peddle pressure when I was done. Tomorrow I'll get my wife to do the pumping while I use the tube and jar method. That method I know works. I was trying to save time and I wasted money instead.

Just for the record - I now have a Gunson Easi bleed and it is good, but before that I used a system of clear tubes bonded together, a 2 inch length to get onto the nipple and a 5-6 foot of thin stuff to lead up over a lamp stand ( just for height) to get above the level of the master cylinder, release the nipple - pumpaway to a waste jar observing bubbles - lock off - check master cylinder - move on to the next wheel. If you are really tight and only want to release the air, stop pumping before the fluid reaches the high point keep your foot down as the bubbles rise up the tube then release, the fluid will drop back level with the fluid in the master cylinder then pump again. In my experience, most of the air collects near the nipple and is dispelled with the first 2 pumps anyway.

Bob
 
You had CARP in your brake lines!? Holy crap!

Seriously, I use one of the Mightyvacs. What you have to do is seal the joint between the wheel cylinder and bleed fitting with grease when you crack it open. Otherwise you will see bubbles forever, entering the bleed line through the gaps between the threads of the fitting and the wheel cylinder. I also slop grease on the joint between the tube and the bleeder just to make sure. Works fine.

And the crap comes from perishing (love that Britishism) rubber seals in the MC and wheel cylinders and the interior of the brake hoses. NOT a good thing to see.

But better than carp...
 
I used teflon tape on the fitting threads and still got a lot of bubbles. I used low suction on the Mityvac. You are probable right about the crap cause it was black. I believe it was from just ONE wheel cylinder which was replaced due to breaking when tightening the valve(not really much pressure applied). Some shinny slivers had come through when I first started bleeding but it had not leaked. I was on the way to trouble anyway.
Crap or carp, I don't like either one.
Thanks,
TH
 
Back
Top