Brake bleeding

thanks for the help Raymond. Put speed bleeders on all 4 corners and the clutch. Then replaced the old nasty tea colored fluid with new clear synthetic. Brakes and clutch feel worlds better now. Woo woo.

The only trouble I encountered was a dead battery when I went to move the car. Got a new battery, swapped it in and it started right up. Checked the voltage at the battery after it was started and showed a nice 14.6V at idle. Right where it should be so the charging system is working correctly. Just a dead cellin the old batt.

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Originally Posted by HudsonHawk

thanks for the help Raymond.

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Glad to return a wrenching favor!

That clutch looked like chocolate syrup... <shudder>

Let me know when you are ready to do the truck & the Jeep. I'm wondering if we can reach the caliper bleeders without having to take the wheels off of those. ;) hehehehe

I'm a HUGE FAN of speed bleeders.

RJ

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

Let me know when you are ready to do the truck & the Jeep. I'm wondering if we can reach the caliper bleeders without having to take the wheels off of those. ;) hehehehe
RJ

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The Jeep will not be a problem. Plenty of room to work without removing the wheels. The truck on the other hand I will have to check. I am not sure about it.

OK... you have me intrigued. Where is the best place to get the speed bleeders? Do you bleed the brakes on a Miata w/o removing the wheels?

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Originally Posted by black roadster

OK... you have me intrigued. Where is the best place to get the speed bleeders? Do you bleed the brakes on a Miata w/o removing the wheels?

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eBay works... there are also other places on the web to get them.

Whether or not you remove the wheels depends on if you can reach the bleeder valves without removing them. ;)

You get some plastic tubing, put it over the bleeder, crack it open a little, then pump your pedal to bleed them. You can also pump them to flush new fluid through the system and do it all by yourself. No more 2 person brake jobs.

RJ

ok.. got a model number or size I'm looking for?

For the Speed bleeder brand you need
2 - SB8100 for the front
2 - SB7100 for the rear
1 - SB7100 for the clutch slave

How hard is to put the speed bleeder on?

It's cake.

Pull the wheel. Unscrew the old bleeder. Screw in the new one. Attach a bit of tubing to the new one and crack it open about a half turn. Pump the brake to bleed any air then tighten it back up.

It's that easy.

To flush fluid through the system you just need to crack open the bleeder 1/2 turn and pump the pedal like mad. Don't let the master cylinder go dry!!!! Add fluid then pump more... keep doing this until it runs clear out of the bleeder then tighten the bleeder valve. Since they have the check ball in them you can do this by yourself without worrying about getting air back in the system.

Do them in this order:

1. Rear Passenger
2. Rear Driver
3. Front Passenger
4. Front Driver

Basically you are doing the furthest one away from the master cylinder first and finishing up with the closest one.

RJ

I love my speed bleeders, I was able to get the pedal feel I wanted in about 2 minutes. Well worth the small investment

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

Glad to return a wrenching favor!

That clutch looked like chocolate syrup... <shudder>

Let me know when you are ready to do the truck & the Jeep. I'm wondering if we can reach the caliper bleeders without having to take the wheels off of those. ;) hehehehe

I'm a HUGE FAN of speed bleeders.

RJ

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I need to put on the set that I got from you. When you take the bleeder screw out of each caliper does that introduce a ton of air into the system? Meaning instead of a normal bleed do you have to spend a lot more time getting all the air out again? Right now my fluid is quasi clean and I don't feel like making a big job out of it just to put them in.

just wait until the next time you bleed your brakes. And swap them then.

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Originally Posted by CosmosMpower

I need to put on the set that I got from you. When you take the bleeder screw out of each caliper does that introduce a ton of air into the system? Meaning instead of a normal bleed do you have to spend a lot more time getting all the air out again? Right now my fluid is quasi clean and I don't feel like making a big job out of it just to put them in.

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The bleeder is located at the top of the fluid chamber on each caliper; otherwise it would not function. Don't be a :cat:

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Originally Posted by Darron65

The bleeder is located at the top of the fluid chamber; otherwise it would not function. Don't be a :cat:

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??? I know full well how to bleed my brakes, however when you do it normally you don't take the whole screw out. My question was, if I take the screw out completely to replace it with a speedbleeder, will that introduce a lot more air into the system than a normal brake bleed.

And WTF is a bleeder? Each bleed screw is located on a caliper, the only thing located up top is the reservior you need to keep full.

Once you do it, it will be obvious, and you will understand my answer. As HH said, replace them at your next flush and be done with it.

The advantage of the Speedbleeder or any other bleed-screw-with-integral-check-valve (do you like that terminology better?) is that NO air is introduced during a bleed.

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Originally Posted by Darron65

The advantage of the Speedbleeder or any other bleed-screw-with-integral-check-valve (do you like that terminology better?) is that NO air is introduced during a bleed.

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And you can DIY.

What about the Altiain's possitive pressure cap, if you have an air compressor it is the bestest way evar to flush the brakes! ::Banana::

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...55_61_full.jpg

[QUOTE=POS Racing;127902]What about the Altiain's possitive pressure cap, if you have an air compressor it is the bestest way evar to flush the brakes! ::Banana::

Or, you could get one of THESE True, it's not TCB-approved for a single car. But it'll last forever, and when you can bleed brakes and clutches on any car you own (or friends and family), it's not so bad in the long run.

I have a vacuum bleeder. The speedbleeders are so much easier to use.

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Originally Posted by Darron65

Once you do it, it will be obvious, and you will understand my answer. As HH said, replace them at your next flush and be done with it.

The advantage of the Speedbleeder or any other bleed-screw-with-integral-check-valve (do you like that terminology better?) is that NO air is introduced during a bleed.

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Ugh, I know what a speedbleeder does with the 1 way check valve design but obviously there's a chance to introduce air into the system for the few seconds you take the old factory screw out and put a speedbleeder in, i.e. a hole in the system, you follow?

I'll just do it next time the fluid needs to be done and just buy extra fluid to get all the air out of the lines. I keep the system clean and bleed frequently so I just hate basically having to re-do the whole system like I sucked air in when I remove all the factory valves to put the speedbleeders in.