bleeding brakes

[geraldchainsaw]

hi all.   i'm surethis fhas been on the forum many times,   but me getting old forget more then i remember.    i want to bleed my brakes myself,  without the wife,   i've bought the cheap kit and it  wasn't very good,   what do brakeshops use,  i'm sure they don't get someone to pump the brakes, but do it them self,   who has a good kit out there?,  thanks   jerry

[Ford Blue blood]

Jerry I have let mean ol Mr. Gravity help me out with the bleeding.  I just raise the car, jack stands on the chassis, remove the cap from the master, crack open the right rear bleed screw, grab a beer and wait for the fluid to run out.  Crack open the left rear and repeat.  Move to the front, crack the right front open, get another beer and wait, repeat for the left front.  This process has worked flawlessly on everything I have built.  62 Bird, 48 F100, 66 Ranchero, 57 Ford, 61 Unibody, 65 Bird, 57 Ranchwagon and a 60 Ranchwagon.

[gasman826]

X2.  When I get impatient waiting to snag a 'pedal pumper', I have done the same.  Open the bleeders and wait.  May not work well on jacks...vehicle needs to be level.  Come to think of it, nothing works well on jacks!!!!!!  On occasion, I have used an alignment tool, a telescoping bar with a spring on it that wedges between the brake pedal and the steering wheel to keep pressure on the brake pedal. 

When working in dealership, I had a pressure bleeder that clamped on the master cylinder where the the cover connects.  A pressurized tank of brake fluid pushes fluid through the system so I could bleed by myself.

[geraldchainsaw]

ok,   i have to change my question some,      bleeding the brakes is one of the things i'm gong to try without the help of the wife,     but the change question is,   i want to flush out the whole system,  will that mean taking all the wheels cyls off and rebuilding them, honing out etc,  the fluid has been in there for a few years,  its turned dark in the master,   don't know what the cyls look like,  llast nite i was thinking about it,   the brake fuild goes in the top and comes out the top when u bleed them,  as far as i can guess the fluid don't circalate,   any info out there on this?,   i'm not a brake man,   thanks    jerry

[Ford Blue blood]

Jerry the top in the wheel cylinder is a touch higher then the inlet.  Here is what I would do, pull all the fluid out of the master, shop vaqc, paper towels, what ever.  When it is empty wipe all the "crud" out of the master, fill with new fluid and open the right rear (car is on jack stands with all four wheels off the ground) and proceed with the "mean ol Mr. Gravity" bleeding process.  When you have clear clean fluid at all four corners you are done.

[gasman826]

Saw Man...your assumption is correct that the only way to change 100% of the fluid is a complete system overhaul.  If there is sediment in the bottom of the master cylinder reservoir and especially if there is dampness on the wheel cylinder boots, then by all means, the procedure would be a complete overhaul.

If you are just concerned about brake system maintenance and it is time for a fluid change, then getting 95% of the fluid changed is acceptable.  Another advantage to the gravity method is that your used master cylinder (MC) has taken a 'set' in the MC bore.  The MC piston has moved in a short stroke for most of its life.  Bleeding the brakes by pumping the MC through its complete stroke could damage the piston seal because of foreign material/corrosion in the unused section of the bore that was not part of the normal cycle.  Now, one could also argue that if there is foreign material/corrosion in the bore and it is damaged during bleeding that it needed to be changed anyway.

All brake system maintenance is critical but if the OEM single system is still in use, shoes, wheel cylinders, adjustment, lines, hoses, master cylinder, and the manual parking brake system all need to be inspected and serviced regularly.
If it won't go, you can walk.  If it won't stop, it hurts!

[57AGIN]

Gasman826:

Your logic is irrefutable and sense of humor outstanding.  Really like how you end a lot of your posts. LOL, LOL, LOL...

Bob
576 AGIN