[V8] brake bleeding

[Seamus O'Carey]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I ended up pulling the vacuum tube and
having my girlfriend help me do it the old fashioned way (that sounds kinda
dirty...meh, I'll leave it) and now everything works...sorta. I pulled a LOT
of air out of the front right caliper (the one that had been dragging) so
now the brakes actually work great, but the light is still on. It doesn't
*feel* like the system has low pressure and the fluid is full, so I guess
I'll check out the fluid level sensor, e-brake switch, and pressure sensor.

Thanks again,

Seamus

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 6:26 PM, <qshipq at aol.com> wrote:

>  I don't use ATE Super Blue, it eats the seals in the brake and clutch
> master/slave.  Pentosin Super DOT 4 or equivalent - valvoline sells a good
> one at your local FLAPS.  Forget the vacuum bleeder, use only a pressure
> bleeder, no more than 15psi.  Sounds like you might want to disconnect the
> right front line and try bleeding it.  My guess is you have a collapsed
> rubber line.  That said, the light 'on' means you have a problem.  It comes
> on for 3 reasons, bad ebrake switch, low on brake fluid (or bad brake
> resevoir sensor) and/or low pressure in the system.  The switch for the
> brake pressure is on the servo, and can be pulled to test it.
>
> For brake bleeding, there is a ck valve located above the rear axle.  If
> you raise the right or left rear, the ck valve will fight brake fluid going
> to that rear caliper.  If doing this procedure, it's best to have both rears
> up at the same height.  Also the proportioning valve at the back of the car
> (right side control arm) tends to stick, which can be freed up with PB or
> WD40.  Lastly, you may have brake component paint in the lines, which can
> cause a major problem during a bleed.  The only way to release that is to
> remove the lines at the ABS, and blow air back thru the lines from the
> calipers.
>
> HTH and my .02
>
> Scott J
> 92 v8
>
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: Ingo Rautenberg <ingo.rautenberg at gmail.com>
> To: Seamus O'Carey <cheshirecatsbox at gmail.com>
> Cc: v8 <V8 at audifans.com>
> Sent: Tue, May 10, 2011 7:57 pm
> Subject: Re: [V8] brake bleeding
>
>  I'm no fan of vacuum bleeders. I would go with a pressure bleeder (8-10 psi)
>
>
> through the brake reservoir. Start at the right rear, left rear, right front
>
>
> and left front. Make sure you have enough clear tubing to go at least a foot
>
>
> or two above the bleed nipple to make sure you don't see any more bubbles. I
>
>
> like to switch between an ATE blue and ATE clear, so I know I'm using fresh
>
>
> fluid.
>
>
>
>
> Anyhow, that's my recommendation. Otherwise, you could have a bad master
>
>
> cylinder, maybe?
>
>
>
>
> Ingo
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 7:43 PM, Seamus O'Carey
>
>
> <cheshirecatsbox at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
>
> > I'm still at a loss on this bleeding thing. I've read the brake section of
>
>
> > the manual about 5 times, but since I still seem to be doing something
>
>
> > wrong, I must have missed something.
>
>
> >
>
>
> > What is the proper method of bleeding the brakes? Do I have to do something
>
>
> > with the ABS system or should I be able to just pull the air through with a
>
>
> > vacuum bleeder at the calipers? Car running or not?
>
>
> >
>
>
> > If you want more info, here's the background story:
>
>
> > I got the car with brake problems and even though I drove it home (~90
>
>
> > miles), the brakes have always been squishy and the light has always been
>
>
> > on.
>
>
> >
>
>
> > The previous owner replaced the bomb, but it didn't help. I replaced the
>
>
> > servo (as well as the rear calipers and all 4 pads and rotors) and then
>
>
> > bled
>
>
> > the calipers, but the pedal was still a bit soft and the light was still
>
>
> > on.
>
>
> > Also at this point the right front brake started dragging.
>
>
> >
>
>
> > So I replaced the master cylinder the other day, which resulted in NO
>
>
> > brakes
>
>
> > at all. I did forget to bench bleed the master cylinder however, so I
>
>
> > connected a pressure bleeder to the fluid reservoir and then disconnected
>
>
> > the line going into the ABS pump, from the forward-most line on the master
>
>
> > cylinder, and connected a vacuum bleeder to it, to pull some of the air
>
>
> > out.
>
>
> > There was quite a bit of air, so I was hopeful, however it didn't change
>
>
> > the
>
>
> > pedal feel at all.
>
>
> >
>
>
> > So I went ahead and pulled the right rear wheel and hooked the vacuum
>
>
> > bleeder to that caliper and (with the pressure bleeder still connected to
>
>
> > the fluid reservoir) started pumping. After 15 minutes of getting only
>
>
> > small
>
>
> > droplets of fluid I started suspecting that I was again doing something
>
>
> > wrong, which is when I came in to write this e-mail.
>
>
> >
>
>
> > I'm especially frustrated, because I have a manual here, but every time I
>
>
> > do
>
>
> > something it actually only makes things worse. At some point it has to get
>
>
> > better, right?
>
>
> >
>
>
> > Seamus
>
>
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