I feel dumb for asking, but how do I .....

[JeepUP]

1059175

Bleed my brakes :-?. Changed the pads on my disc brakes the other day and now my pedal is on the floor before it even starts to work. I am pretty sure they just need to be bleeded. Can someone please give me a heads up on how to do this. I kinda of know how to do it, but do I leave the engine on or off, and where do I go from there. Thanks for the help. [addsig]

 

[brokejeep1313]

1059191

jeepup, Well I ain't no mechanic, but this is how I do it, And no problem yet. First remove the cap on you master cylinder, don't take it all the way off, just enough that it can get air. Because when you pump it up it builds up preassure. I start with the driver front, pump up until the pedal gets hard. then open the valve to bleed the brake. Let pedal depress all the way to floor, and hold until You tighten up the set screw. Then Do it again. Move to passainger rear, and do same thing twice. Move to drivers back, and same steps. Move to passanger front and repeat the steps. Make sure and check the master cylinder for brake fluid, because if it runs dry, you get air back in your linesw, and then you have to start all over. Well I hope this will help you. Some people might do it diffrent, but this is always how I have done it and it always worked for me. Good luck and let me know how it worked. Randy[addsig]

 

[cj5springbranch]

1059195

Adding to Brokejeep1313 it is better with two people trying to hold pressure on the pedal and reaching the bleeders could be tricky, I havent mastered that yet. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: [addsig]

 

[DannyBlaze]

1059223

....get haynes or chilton to help u out!! there awsome buddy's of mine!

just follow pictures...drums a a little bit trickyer... :-D

GOOD LUCK! ;-) [addsig]

 

[dingus]

1059263

or even 3 people.... one to pump the brake, one to stand there with a jug of fluid keeping the resivoir full, and one on the ground doin' the dirty work![addsig]

 

[bigTlilODD]

1059270

I do it with two people.

Do not take off the cover to the master cylinder. You do not want air getting in, that's the point of bleeding the brakes, to get air OUT. And you need the presure.

First get yourself a mason jar and fill it with a little brake fluid. About 2 inches or so. Then get some hose that fits snuggly on to the bleeder valve of the wheel cylinder. Also, make sure that the hose is somehow attached to the mason jar.

Get a "crows foot" wrench that fits the bleeder valve.

Have a friend pump the brakes til they're firm and tell him to hold his foot on the pedal. Then release the valve and let the fluid out. Making sure that the hose in the mason jar is always in the fluid. Do this until no air bubbles come out the hose on that cylinder. Continue til all of the wheels are done.[addsig]

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

1059277

Best to get a Haynes Manual.

Just a couple notes to what's already been posted:
*You shouldn't need to bleed the brakes after replacing brake pads or shoes, only if you replace a caliper or wheel cylinder or air somehow gets into the brake lines.
*Always start bleeding the brakes with the bleed valve furthest from the master cylinder, them work towards the master cylinder. This means bleed the rear pass. 1st, rear driver's 2nd, front pass. 3rd, front driver's 4th.
[addsig]

 

[Jeepster05]

1059284

i have someone pumping the brake 3 times then holding while i bleed em. [addsig]

 

[jprtroy]

1059287

Only thing I'd add to Brokejeep's procedure is to start with the wheel that's farthest from the master cylinder. The chiltions or haynes may state this.
You might look into getting one of the "hand Pump" vacuum bleeder systems. They make bleeding the lines so much easier. Basically, You simply attach the hand vac pump via the supplied tubing and suck the new fresh fluid from the reservoir, down thru the lines, to the container on the hand pump. The end of the line is submerged in fluid, and the vac is supplied up at the top, so there very little chance of getting any air back into the brake system. You pull fluid till no more air bubbles are seen in the container.
There a little more to it than that, but basically " That's it in a nutshell"
On second thought, you should learn how to bleed the brakes the hard way first.
then graduate up to the easy way.


[addsig]

 

[Jeepin91]

1059288

Make sure you get someone to help you. Have them pump them a few times and hold them to the floor while you tighten the bleeder. Worked great for me when I put new calipers, pads, and roders on my 91.
There is also a little tool you can buy so you can bleed them yourself. It has a magnent that sticks to the frame and then you can pump them yourself. It sucks though. I would not recomend it.[addsig]

 

[TerryMason]

1059299

here is a rather weak write up on how to do it:

http://jeepz.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Howto&file=brakes_bleed[addsig]

 

[bigTlilODD]

1059305

You know, It's pretty darn cool that there's all these replies and no dumb responses. Hey JeepUp, Don't feel dumb about asking these types of questions!!!! Doing brakes is not easy. I didn't know how to do disc brakes til I was 30 years old. I started on drums when I was 10 and all my cars were old classics. When I did my first set of disc's I had to go to the store like 5 times to get all the tools! LOL I wish I had known of a site like this, when I did my first disc brake job. Now, I will never say, "There's no such thing as a dumb question." Because there are. If you call my house and I answer, then you proceed to ask, "Dude, where are you?" Well that's a dumb question. Sometimes we kinda jump on people but their questions are, well, questionable. It was reading this type of thread, with these types of answers that made be quit lurking and start typing.[addsig]