Brake bleeder advice

I've never actually had to bleed brakes before. I normally just have the
fluid replaced every two years when I get the MoT done.

But I'm fitting larger brakes to my wife's E28 M535i and it looks like
it's time to take the plunge and do it myself. Can anyone recommend a
good brake bleeder from personal experience?

--
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Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
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On Sat, 02 Jun 2007 16:23:28 +0100, John Burns >
wrote:

>I've never actually had to bleed brakes before. I normally just have the
>fluid replaced every two years when I get the MoT done.
>
>But I'm fitting larger brakes to my wife's E28 M535i and it looks like
>it's time to take the plunge and do it myself. Can anyone recommend a
>good brake bleeder from personal experience?


You and your wife as a team are pretty good as long as the car is in the air and
all 4 wheels are off the vehicle (not imperative but makes life easier) and all
the windows and or doors are open.

What you need is a piece of 1/8" bore vacuum tubing (Ford dealer about £3 for
Escort or whatever about 30" long) and large jam jar (Dolmio Pasta jar is ideal)

2 x or 3 x DOT 4 brake fluid (or DOT 5.5 if you can afford it) Before you fit
the new calipers use a brake pipe clamp to compress the rubber hose (NOT MOLE
GRIPS) to stop fluid dripping out and air getting in.

Working one wheel at a time - say front left. Clamp hose and disconnect from
caliper.

Do the work - new disc new brackets a new caliper and tighten everything up.

Loosen bleed nipple and connect brake hose (unless being really silly and
fitting Goodrich Stainless braided) and get lady wife to depress the brake pedal
- do not force. put small amount (1" deep) new brake fluid into jar and push
one end of hose onto bleed nipple and the other end in jar below fluid level.
Release tube clamp and the pedal should fall to the floor. tell wife to hold it
on the floor by using the words DOWN-HOLD
You tighten lightly the bleed nipple.
You shout to wife UP
You loosen nipple and shout DOWN-HOLD.

Repeat until no bubbles come from the hose in the jar.

Repeat for all 4 wheels. DO NOT FORGET TO CHECK MASTER CYLINDER FLUID LEVEL
AFTER EVERY 5 PUMPS of the brake pedal.

Someone will say start at the wheel farthest from the master cylinder bt I have
found out it doesn't really matter as long as you get all the air out. By the
time you have finished you would have probably changed all the fluid anyway.

Steve

JoshIII adds:

The ABS system will interfere with
the brake bleeding process,
even when the car's ignition
is off (and key is out).

Steps must be taken to
reset the ABS Braking
System each time the unit detects
and closes off a leaking
brake line (namely the
line you are currently bleeding).

Background: The ABS system
incorporates broken or leaky
line sensing that shuts down
any of the four brake lines
(one per wheel) when it detects
a line is unable to hold its pressure.

Haynes type service manuals
never mention this hazard or
what steps to take to reset
the ABS system when bleeding
the brakes.

To reset the ABS Braking
System you have to start
the engine for a few seconds,
and apply the brakes with
all brake lines bleeder valves
closed. The ABS System
will sense that all 4 brake
lines are holding their pressure,
functioning properly, then
reset itself.

Next, turn the ignition off, and
continue bleeding the brake
lines.

Until next time, Good Braking!

JoshIII
josh3i at hotmail . com

In article >,
John Burns > wrote:
> I've never actually had to bleed brakes before. I normally just have the
> fluid replaced every two years when I get the MoT done.

> But I'm fitting larger brakes to my wife's E28 M535i and it looks like
> it's time to take the plunge and do it myself. Can anyone recommend a
> good brake bleeder from personal experience?

I get on ok with the Gunson Easybleed. Just make sure the master cylinder
cap they supply is fitted correctly and not cross threaded. And all the
pipes are secure. And above all observe their notes on the pressure of the
spare tyre that's used to provide the air to push the fluid through - in
this case less is preferable to more. Taking in the above, it's a cheap
and easy way of bleeding any system without help. But do keep an eye on
the levels when bleeding - it's so fast it's easy to run out and have to
start again. BTGTTS

--
*If you think this van is dirty, you should try having sex with the driver*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 20:29:35 -0400, "JoshIII" > wrote:

>JoshIII adds:
>
>The ABS system will interfere with
>the brake bleeding process,
>even when the car's ignition
>is off (and key is out).
>
>Steps must be taken to
>reset the ABS Braking
>System each time the unit detects
>and closes off a leaking
>brake line (namely the
>line you are currently bleeding).
>
>Background: The ABS system
>incorporates broken or leaky
>line sensing that shuts down
>any of the four brake lines
>(one per wheel) when it detects
>a line is unable to hold its pressure.
>
>Haynes type service manuals
>never mention this hazard or
>what steps to take to reset
>the ABS system when bleeding
>the brakes.
>
>To reset the ABS Braking
>System you have to start
>the engine for a few seconds,
>and apply the brakes with
>all brake lines bleeder valves
>closed. The ABS System
>will sense that all 4 brake
>lines are holding their pressure,
>functioning properly, then
>reset itself.
>
>Next, turn the ignition off, and
>continue bleeding the brake
>lines.
>
>Until next time, Good Braking!
>
>JoshIII
>josh3i at hotmail . com
>
Oops! forgot that bit.............. BTW Josh - any chance of resetting your line
length to 60+ so that your post is easier to read!

Thanks for the reminder.

Steve