[Mk2] [Turbo] Why doesn't anything go smoothly?

[Mike]

Changed my offside rear caliper last week as well as both sets of rear discs and pads, bled both rear brake calipers as they were both removed from the system. Removed all the air yet the pedal still felt spongey. So decided to bleed the fronts too. Went to loosen the nearside front nipple and it sheers......great. Its not leaking so leave it as is. Manage to successfully bleed the offside front caliper, absolutely no air came out. Take the car out and pedal travels almost all the way to the floor.

Now I struggle to believe that the one caliper that hasn't been bled has got air in it since (A) at no point was it disconnected from the system and (B) there's no air anywhere else in the braking system. WTF is going on?

[Lewis Jay]

Sounds like they just need bleeding properly mate.

[Mike]

But theres no air coming out anywhere. Typically all the air would come out of the caliper on the first pump. We'd then repeat the process about 5x on each caliper with nothing but fluid coming out before stopping and moving onto the next caliper. I've changed calipers before and never had this problem. Sometimes I genuinely hate my car.

[going4the1]

I assume that you've pumped the pedal enough times to push the piston out to meet and bed the pads? Can take several pumps. Then bleed the rears.

[Mike]

I assume that you've pumped the pedal enough times to push the piston out to meet and bed the pads? Can take several pumps. Then bleed the rears.

Yep, pumped the pedal after fitting the new discs and pads so that they'd meet, the pads are no more than a millimeter away from the discs. When you drive the car, the first time you press the brake the the brakes work but they're spongey until they bite near the bottom. When you pump the pedal it bites nearer the top.

[black gts]

use a pressure bleeder mate , i had the same problem on a car i was fixing
i just couldn't get the pedal to feel right and no air coming out.
pressure bleed and got 1 air bubble out , job done

[Mike]

use a pressure bleeder mate , i had the same problem on a car i was fixing
i just couldn't get the pedal to feel right and no air coming out.
pressure bleed and got 1 air bubble out , job done

Spent £20 on a Gunson Ezibleed today only to find that the cap doesn't fit the reservoir. Gunson produce a multi-fit cap but they charge £17 for it!!

[afennell]

This is going to sound silly but it can work as long as you don’t need your car and your running out of options.

Pump the brake pedal so there is lots of pressure and then using something like a plank of wood, wedge the pedal pressed down and leave over night or for a few days.

As you have pumped the peddle and pressure is built up any air will make its way to the top, ie reservoir

[Mike]

This is going to sound silly but it can work as long as you don’t need your car and your running out of options.

Pump the brake pedal so there is lots of pressure and then using something like a plank of wood, wedge the pedal pressed down and leave over night or for a few days.

As you have pumped the peddle and pressure is built up any air will make its way to the top, ie reservoir

The 2 is a second car now so I'll give that a try. Let me just get this straight though, so I simply go out pump the pedal, leave a weight on the pedal to keep it depressed overnight, come out to the car next day, remove th cap on the reservoir releasing any air, job done?

[afennell]

yep,
may have to leave it longer then over night, but worth a try. It worked for me when I struggled to bleed the system by myself after replacing the rear callipers. I wedged the pedal down with some wood against a lip under the seat and left it for the working week.

[Steve-O 2007]

can you not damage any seals doing that by leaving them under constant pressure?

[jmachling]

Is there a chance you got air into the master cylinder? i.e. the reservoir level went right down when you were bleeding them. If so, you'll need to prime the master cylinder with the pipes disconnected at the master cylinder before trying to bleed the full system as you'll find it very difficult to get air out that gets in at that level. Not possible until you get that sheared bleed nipple out unfortunately.

I used this when I refurbed my brakes and changed the pipes as I was bleeding them on my own:

http://www.toolsupplies.co.uk/catalog/i ... _id=190590

It's a bit fiddly but worked very well - didn't have to prime the master as the air was being sucked out rather than forced out.

[foxy-stoat]

When your bleeding the system, do you pump the pedal like a load of times then hold it on the floor while you release the bleed nipple?

Had this when I just pushed the pedal once to the floor and released the nipple, wasnt really working. You need to pump it a few times to get the pressure up before you release the nipple.

[benGT]

I had the very same problem a couple months ago. The solution was to bleed the master brake cylinder - see the bottom of my blog article on it http://www.autojumbled.co.uk/?p=427

[Mike]

#UPDATE#

At last its sorted! I took the pressure bleeder back to Halfords and got a one-man kit. This time I performed the procedure with the engine running and I made sure that the catch-can was elevated above the bleed nipple. Managed to get about 5 tiny little bubbles out of the new caliper and that was it......job done.

Very relieved. Thanks to everyone for your advice.


Mike

[RST]

Think you solved it but the £5 one man "eazy bleed" tube kit from Halfrauds really is the mutts nuts -gone are the 2 guy and jam jar faff for me -it works first time every time without fail and just as quick -if not quicker. I ditched my mechanic mates and went this little tube over a year ago and it has never let me down. But I would pump the pedal for 15-20 times each calliper. OK it uses much more fluid but we're not talking massive volumes anyway -about 20 poumps each pedal pretty much flushes the system through which is what allot of old systems need anyway. With the ezi-bleed kit you just have to remember to push the pedal slowly and progressively, work your way round the car in the correct oriantation though. Wouldn't recommend anything else or any other method for the price of it.