Bleeding Brakes....

[Stoneman]

First off, let me tell you that you don't need a 'bleed kit' or 'power bleeder' although the latter is nice. But the whole process is a lot easier than people think...

1) Attach the bleed hose to the bleed screw on the caliper furthest from the master cylinder, and run the hose into a catch pan. You can buy a length of vacuum or fuel line hose at your local McAuto parts chain for this, and a coffee can works great for a catch...

2) CAREFULLY remove the cap to your reservior...

3) Give the lever 3 or 4 GENTLE squeezes, and HOLD the lever as close to the grip as you can....

4) While holding the lever tightly (but gently), open the bleed screw until your lever touches the grip. Then tighten it while keeping the lever against the grip. This is VERY important, or you could get air backed up into the lines...

5) Repeat this process 3 or 4 times if you're just bleeding. If you're REPLACING your fluid, repeat until the fluid runs clean...

6) While doing this, make sure you have enough fluid in your reservior so that you don't take in any air. That'd defeat the whole purpose...

Some important things to remember:

1) Make sure you get the right fluid for your bike. The rating is stamped right there on your reservior cap...

2) Brake fluid can be VERY harmful to your paint & plastic. Some say that DOT 4 or better won't do any harm, but I don't buy into that. Just be careful!!

3) Make sure you squeeze the lever GENTLY while the reservior cap is off!!

4) It's always easier with an extra set of hands!!





[Edited on 7/13/01 by Stoneman]

[Edited on 7/13/01 by Stoneman]

[cRa1g]

Stoneman,

Good advice - and very clear / concise!

This is going to save us all a bit of time and headache! Thanks for the advice, and for your help with this project last week. I intend to replace the lines on the Duc as well, and it will be a LOT easier now with your sage advice, and having done it once before! Thanks again for posting this.

Are there any other basic maintenance chores the people can explain easily - to save us a few bucks!

[cRa1g]

Stoneman,

As you know, I have plenty of initial maintenance items that I wanted to take care of before riding the 996 (oil/filter, battery service, coolant fill, kick stand mod, brake bleeding, etc.). Anyway, I went to the AutoZone today, and they had a little "brake bleed kit" there.

It was hilarious! It has about a 2 foot section of the vacuum tubing along with a small (3 or 4 oz) container which had a fitting on the lid that was the same as the "bleed nipple". The objective was to make the connection at both ends, and it's a quick / clean job. I believe it is an awesome little kit - but they want $5.00 for it! Talk about a profit margin! Anyway, it's cheap money for being able to do this job right, and clean / precise...

[SWEET_Z]

Digging up this old thread cause I messed up my brakes.

I was attempting to follow the instructions in my manual that go as follows:

1. open bleed valve
2. pull in brake lever
3.close bleed valve
4. release brake lever

and repeat.

Well I made it 15 iterations or so and then somehow got it all messed up. Now brake lever comes all the way to handle and I've got no brakes. Seems I was a little too happy after getting the pads swapped so fast w.out issue.

I can burp some air out of it by squeezing the lever and quickly opening/shutting the bleeder valve. This allows me to get fluid about 2" up the clear plastic tubing and no more air bubbles. If I try to go back to the steps in the manual at this point by doing step one (open bleed valve) it sucks the fluid and air back into the caliper.

Not sure what to try next.

BTW, I was trying to change the fluid.

[craig]

I'm obviously no expert, but I accidentally got air in my lines while trying to change fluid out two years ago and the easiest way at that point (once the air is in the lines) is to beg/borrow/buy one of those speed bleeder gun thingys. I thought I was done for and had no front brake just like you and the pump thingy made it VERY easy to get all of the air out and make it nice and firm.

Maybe one of the experts here can offer better manual advice, but afaik that'd be the fastest way to fix your problem. I think the pump is like $40-50

[Rye]

Originally posted by craig


Maybe one of the experts here can offer better manual advice, but afaik that'd be the fastest way to fix your problem. I think the pump is like $40-50

The problem with a setup like the Mighty Vac is that it creates too hard a vacuum and can suck air from around the fitting or between the hose and nipple to the caliper. I've got one and gave it up for a clear hose and catch tank.

[SSearchVT]

A slight modification to Stonemans process. When you are done slowly pumping the brake lever for the front brakes, put a rubber band around the grip and lever. When you open the bleeder screw it keeps pressure on the lever. Hope this helps.

[SWEET_Z]

I'll have to see if the parts store has a little pump. Should the pump be run with the brake lever in or out? What if I have air up by the master cylinder?

Any one have any manual tips for getting the air out?

[gsxrjack]

another good thing to do if your having problems getting the air out of the brake line is to bleed it from the banjo bolt right at the master clyender...sometimes air gets trapped there and is a bitch to get out...some bikes have a bleeder there just for that but if your bike doesnt just loosen it while the brake is held then tighten it just like you do a bleeder port...wrap some rags around it so you dont spill brake fluid on the plastic...this has helped me out many times....

[daviid]

i find it easy to take a small section of hose 6" or so and fit it on the bleeder, put the hose in a container filled with fresh brake fluid. fill the resovoir up with brake fluid and pump. make sure either end does not run out of brake fluid.

[Awesome]

Originally posted by daviid
i find it easy to take a small section of hose 6" or so and fit it on the bleeder, put the hose in a container filled with fresh brake fluid. fill the resovoir up with brake fluid and pump. make sure either end does not run out of brake fluid.

you're contaminating your fresh brake fluid with bad fluid. The drained fluid is waste and needs to be disposed not recycled.

[stoinkythepig]

Originally posted by Rye
The problem with a setup like the Mighty Vac is that it creates too hard a vacuum and can suck air from around the fitting or between the hose and nipple to the caliper. I've got one and gave it up for a clear hose and catch tank.

Easy fix for that: Teflon tape on the bleeder threads.

Sometimes, the air bubble that's confounding you cannot be moved low enough down the brake line with the small fluid volume the master cylinder moves. As soon as you release the brake lever, the air bubble moves back up the line and you can never get a firm lever. If this happens to you, unbolt the calipers, leave the brake lines on, put a piece of 1/4 plywood or an old brake pad between the pads and hold the caliper up as high as posssible with the bleeder facing straight up. Then follow the original instructions posted by Stoneman. You'll need a helper.

[SWEET_Z]

Finally got this problem resolved after taking a look at it this afternoon.

I had bought a mighty vac over the weekend but still had no success. No matter how much I sucked on the bleeder I couldn't get any amount of fluid out and it would just create a vacumm in the system. That's what was causing the air to get sucked back into the caliper.

On closely inspecting the resevoir tank turns out there was a black condom thingy that should have been up under the cap. It got sucked down and was covering the small hole that go's out of the resevoir. The thing had been sucked tight into the resevoir and the brake fluid was sitting on top of it.

After getting that out of the way the mightvac made quick work of the fluid change. Thanks all for your input. Some mild agravation but at least I got a cool new tool outta the deal!