Bleeding brakes, did I do something stupid or not?

[V6UnderPressure]

Ok, a quick question, I was bleeding the brakes and got to the last one (drivers side front). I had a friend pumping the pedal, and somehow I let it get slightly empty. Therefore it got air in it. Refilled it really quick and bled that brake again to get the air out. My question is: Since I got air while doing that last one, am I gonna have to rebleed all of them??? or since all the fluid was going towards that cylinder, did the air only go that way too??? Id hate to do it again, because I have these speed bleeders and when I replaced the rear passenger side cylinder, the thread pattern was different and I couldnt install the speed bleeder on that one cylinder. Funny thing, because I got both cylinders at autozone yet both bleeder valves had different threads. Whats even more funny is that this is the second time im replacing them because I tried to bleed the brakes when I forgot to put the drum on and ripped the cylinder. And guess what, I did it again. Now that I finally remembered, I'd like to know if my brakes are OK. Thanks for any help guys.

Scott <--feeling really stupid right now.

 

[BlackBandit]

It seems that since everytime you press the peddle the master tries to push fluid to all the brakes that there is a good chance that there is air in other lines. Personally, I'd rather spend another couple of bucks and a couple minutes of time re-bleeding the brakes than risk having a soft peddle and possably diminished breaks (read: possable accident) just my .02

 

[boost86]

Need to bleed to all over again

 

[dan lephart]

blood

NO BRAKES IS NOT THE WAY TO START A DAY!!! WHY NOT RE BLEED AND AVOID TRAGEDY

 

[V6UnderPressure]

ok, i am having a hard time with the bleeding in the non-speed bleeder. Basically, I would need the old school way. This would mean, floor the pedal, then tighten the bleed screw, then release pedal, then loosen bleed screw, floor pedal, tighten screw. Is this the correct procedure?

Scott

 

[BlackBandit]

Get a friend to press the peddle and hold it. You loosed the bleeder. When the peddle goes down you tighten the bleeder. THEN friend released the peddle. Repeat untill no more air is in the lines. I'm sure no one needs to say check the fluid frequently to make sure it doesn't go dry.

 

[bsdlinux]

Originally posted by BlackBandit
Get a friend to press the peddle and hold it. You loosed the bleeder. When the peddle goes down you tighten the bleeder. THEN friend released the peddle. Repeat untill no more air is in the lines. I'm sure no one needs to say check the fluid frequently to make sure it doesn't go dry.

Better yet get a self bleeder kit. Autozone, Harbor Freight tools, etc. Use your friend to keep the master cylinder full with new Synthetic fluid( I use DOT 5 ). Bleed until clean fluid comes out, then tighten.
No issues and you have new fluid throughout.

 

[WFO_SS]

one word of advice i haven't seen yet: do not pump the pedal. just push it down. pumping it only cavitates the fluid in the lines (makes big air pockets into lots of tiny air bubbles.) and yes, if you bleed the reservoir dry, refill & bleed the entire system again.

 

[V6UnderPressure]

Ive heard what I thought to be a myth, but do you have to push the pedal down real fast and hard or real soft and slow or does it matter?

Scott

 

[WFO_SS]

Originally posted by Scott4DMny
Ive heard what I thought to be a myth, but do you have to push the pedal down real fast and hard or real soft and slow or does it matter?

Scott

doesn't really matter. after releasing the pedal, just wait 2 or 3 seconds before applying it again.

 

[TurboJim]

Or if you're not in a rush, you can gravity bleed. Take the top off the master, open a bleeder, let it drip while watfching for air. Once you see no more bubbles, close the bleeder and move on.

Bleeding all the brakes depends on which chamber went empty. If you were bleeding the fronts, I'd bet you just gotta rebleed the front. (The fronts are the large chamber)

Like WFO said, push the pedal, dont pump it. Pumping tends to break up a large bubble into many small ones and makes bleeding harder. Its funny how even at my shop, techs still pump the pedal, despite thinking logically about what theyre doing. I guess when yer dad tells you something in 1967, it sticks with certain people no matter what. Just push gently, hold, crack the bleeder and let it flow till the pedal goes down (flow will stop), close, release, let the bore refill a sec, press, crack/flow, release, wait..etc..etc till you've done the wheels.

Personally, I like pressure bleeders better, but theyre expensive. Not a once in awhile homeowner tool.

 

[V6UnderPressure]

how long does gravity bleeding take usually?

Scott