At a loss! with brakes
 

Brake Bleeding

Right, I know this is a 'piece of cake' to do, but I am at a loss. I'm not going to try and pretend I am some expert at brake bleeding, only ever done it on my kart which was pretty simple.

Swapped over front calipers. Clamp brake hose before I took off old caliper and then fitted new, and the new ones had no fluid in. The old ones had some fluid it, so I must have lost SOME fluid? BUT, the levels havent moved.

Well, after I undo the bleed nipple 1/4-1/2 turn, fluid comes out. The pedal feels firm, although the 'biting point' seems to be a little lower than it was.

So I am completely confused :(

Any help greatly appreciated

presuming you have fitted the calipers correctly and the bleed nipples face UP, then it it fairly straight forward.............i hope you didn't clamp a braided hose??

ideally you need a friend to assist to "pump/bleed" but you can "gravity bleed" to a point, either way you need a length of 'bleed hose' that fits tightly over the nipple, with this done (make sure the cap is off and any clamps removed) open the nipple and allow the fluid to flow from the nipple up the pipe........once bubbles desist then nip nipple back up and repeat for other caliper (both nipples need doing if race style caliper) - make sure the resevoir remains topped up at all times

alyn

hiya, yeah nipples are up and no, it was the standard rubber hose, not upgraded them yet.

And I think I get it now, so by loosen off the nipple, it allows the fluid to pass through the top, hence why you need a bit of pipe and a jar or something. Makes sense.

When you say 'Gravity Bleed', is that a one person job and just allow the air/bubbles to travel up themselves?

Many thanks :)

Yes, but it's better to have someone to sit in and press the brake pedal.

You open the nipple, they press brake pedal SLOWLY to the floor and hold it. You nip up the nipple again, they slowly release brake pedal.

Repeat until no more bubbles are seen.
Then do the other side.

And yes, DO keep the reservoir topped up, or you will suck more air in at the top.:(

Thanks all for your help. It seems to be done, so I will be out for a test drive soon. I'm thinking that I might check it again after 50-100 miles or so.....

Shouldn't need checked, unless the pedal feels spongey again.