Brake Bleeding

cstrautman

cstrautman

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How can you bleed the rear brake. I changed the caliper, and lost all brake pressure. Adding fluid isn't helping, I can't even get the brake pedal to pump up.
 
make sure you're getting both bleeders... inside and outside...

I like to let them gravity bleed... hook hoses up to both bleeders... open them up... fill the res. and let it sit for a while.... come back every so often and check the fluid level...

then... bleed as normal... first the inside bleeder, then the outside.
 
I went to Harbor Freight and bought their brake bleeding system for less than 20 bucks. It works excellent. My rears were spongy before hooking up this system but after using the vacuum type they were perfect. I had bled the inside bleeder first and then moved to the outside. It was a one man job and little or no mess. My next venture is to install speed bleeders.
 
Hooked cstrautman up with my speed bleeder and a new (used) calilper to replace the one rashed from the PO. Hopefully it'll help.

Oh and Cliff, should you decide that you want a new (used) rear master, I'll trade ya my rearset for yours??......:sinister: Has got a set of Rizomas and :drools:, they are really purdy!

BroHay
 
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Aaron/Billy/Don -- anyone got any ideas as to why a caliper that was pulled less than a month ago (functioning), would cease to work?

Trying to rack my brain around why Cliff (cstrautman) can't get the rear caliper to function... Sold him an extra rear that was pulled off of my bike and was working fine for me??

Thanks,
Adam
 
adam.... some thoughts....

if it's a new caliper, (or a used that's been emptied, dried and shipped) I like to start by filling the caliper with fluid before installing. Just grab a small funnel and pour the fluid in through the Banjo Bolt hole.

Next, replace all associated crush washers. They're made to crush once. Not again. the hole in the Banjo bolt has to line up in a certain spot... if the crush washer compresses too much, it'll not line up properly, and will miss the area where the fluid is supposed to escape.

Make sure you used the crush washers, and put them in the correct spots.

With the lines hooked up, the caliper filled, new crush washers installed and the cap off the reservoir, Clean the pistons and push them all of the way in. fluid/air should come out into the res.

How long was the line unhooked from the old caliper, and was all of the fluid allowed to drain from the line? If so, the master cylinder will have to be primed again. It's kind of a pain to do... a Mity-Vac is the best was... build up pressure on the bleeders.... both at the same time, using a "T" splitter on the main line, branching to 2 lines, one on each bleeder.... open both bleeders, keep the res. filled, and work the pedal up and down... the vacuum in the system should suck fluid through the master cylinder, and prime it again.

Try some of the above, let me know what happens.
 
on similar thoughts -- the only other thing that I though of was this....and maybe merit, maybe not.

Cliff has a set of Rizomas rearsets installed. When I met him the other day I noticed that the threaded leg had a slight bend (more than a bend actually). It was a salvaged bike and bought at auction, the braking mechanism for the rearset was reversed in that if the order of parts had been reversed, the threaded rod (for height/pressure adjustment) would of been stratight up and down and not bent.

order of present install from middle out -- nut/spacer/master attachment/brake lever/peg.

could having the bend in the master pose any issues?

Adam
 
Well, it appears that it was a priming issue. Outside of the final bleed, he is back in business with the new(used) caliper.....

BroHay
 
I noticed that you guys are talking about an inside and outside bleeders but my Gen II doesn't have two bleeders, just one like any other caliper I've ever worked on. I thought I was missing something so I went to the manual and it also shows only a single bleeder for the caliper. Does the Gen I actually have double bleeders?
 
Hmmmm..fresh brake fluid:icon_beer: Now I have some rear brakes, but they are soft, so I think more bleeding is required. Thank God the pistons finally pushed out, I was wearin' my hands out pumpin' that vacuum handle..I had to do one side at a time, cause I ain't got no T piece.
I did a little work on that Rizoma MC mount issue...took out one spacer and it looks almost straight now. You can't reverse it though, that changes the brake lever position completely and moves the hook point for the brake light spring to an unworkable position.
Thanx for the grab handles BROHAY...I painted em and mounted em and caught my foot on em the first time I got on the bike after install:rant: lol!
 
the rear caliper is a pain... you can do as I said earlier, and crack the bleeders, and let it sit for a while... or... another method is to leave the res. cap off, and get a brick. One of those nice sidewalk bricks with the 3 holes in it... tie a string through one of the end holes on the brick, and tie the other end of the spring around the rear brake pedal... let the brick hang on the brake over night.... the theory here, is that keeping pressure on the brake, and keeping the Master Cylinder compressed will allow air bubbles to work their way up the line, and dissipate with the cap off of the reservoir. ... I use a similar method on the front caliper by holding the lever in with a few zip ties over night...
 
I have always started with an empty master cylinder. Fill one of the metal pump type oil cans with clean brake fluid and run a piece of tubing from the can nozzle to the bleeder. Pump fresh fluid from the caliper to the MC. All the air gets pumped UP through the system. Bleeding the conventional way has you thrying to push air down. Usually takes 20 minutes or so.
 
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