Bleeding Brakes

[Howie66]

Hey can anyone tell me something.. I have hardly any rear brakes now, im pulling the lever almost into the handlebars, and i aint stopping.. Ive adjusted it to full and it still nothing. Also i can slightly hear oil near the calipers when i push the lever..:confused:

Im just wondering wether this means i have flooded my brakes and they need bleeding..:o

And if so.. HOW DO I FIX IT!! lol:D

Thanks heaps guys..

Howie.

[mike-]

http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=115480

Depends what brakes you have this may help.

[Howie66]

I have Hopes

Does this sound like a typical problem when flooding??? I have never flooded my brakes before.

Cheers

Howie

PS: Awesome thread u have there, I will try it tommorow..

[aslav768]

Oops, just re-read the post. If you can pull the levers to the handlebars then they probably need a bleed.

[Howie66]

Yeah guys.. I just did it, and nothing happened, well now theres no brakes watsoever..

I have the type that screw on to adjust brake setting..(+ & -) and also under that is the resevoir... now i cant get the brakes to work at all using this..

Any ideas?

Howie

[SMIIISH]

...you could always just drop it off to your bike store, pay the $20 and have your problems sorted.
They would be especially speedy in the next few days because of all the rain and horrible weather, not many people have been riding - hence, not many things need repair. well in sydney/NSW and lower QLD area at least.
worth a thought.

[Howie66]

Yeah not a bad idea.. Still wouldnt mind being able to do it myself so i know for next time..

And i dunno about this week.. got the DH finals on at you yangs and lots of sunshine here mate, so could be a bit busy lol

Thanks tho mate, il probably do it monday if i cant fix it.

[huffypilot]

I have never used this technique on a push bike , but it worked a treat on a volvo truck.

The plan is to stand the bike the right way up keeping the resivor above the brake line and any connections, you may need to loosen the handle bar clamp and rotate the unit so the resivor is level and fluid doesnt spill.

Get a large syringe (i used a small pump type garden sprayer on the truck) and piece of clear plastic tube that will fit tightly over the bleed nipple on the caliper. Prime the tube by pumping the brake fluid to the end of the hose . Next fit the tube over the nipple .Crack the nipple and slowly inject brake fluid . The most important thing to remember is to never let the syringe run out of fluid or you will inject an air bubble into the line and have to start again. Also watch for fluid overflowing the resivor , this is not as bad just clean up well with warm soapy water.

This system forces the air to work its way up through all the lines and connections to the resivor rather than forcing air downwards against physics.

Let us know how you get on .
Cheers

[addmin]

I have never used this technique on a push bike , but it worked a treat on a volvo truck.

The plan is to stand the bike the right way up keeping the resivor above the brake line and any connections, you may need to loosen the handle bar clamp and rotate the unit so the resivor is level and fluid doesnt spill.

Get a large syringe (i used a small pump type garden sprayer on the truck) and piece of clear plastic tube that will fit tightly over the bleed nipple on the caliper. Prime the tube by pumping the brake fluid to the end of the hose . Next fit the tube over the nipple .Crack the nipple and slowly inject brake fluid . The most important thing to remember is to never let the syringe run out of fluid or you will inject an air bubble into the line and have to start again. Also watch for fluid overflowing the resivor , this is not as bad just clean up well with warm soapy water.

This system forces the air to work its way up through all the lines and connections to the resivor rather than forcing air downwards against physics.

Let us know how you get on .
Cheers

mm i have successfully used this method on hayes mags.


is the brake actually not functioning at all, or does it just have very bad (ie useless) braking capacity..
theres no cuts or breaks in your hosing is there??

[Howie66]

Hey adminn

Theres no brakes at all now mate, and i know its cant be pads or watever because its only doing it since i began bleeding the system..

whats making me scratch my head is the fact that the little knob, on top of the resivour, doesnt tighten eithere way. Just spins around and around now. Got it topped up with plenty of fluid too..

Really got me this one.

Ive tried different methods now of bleeding to.. even bought a proper bleed kit..

I seriosly dont know!!

Cheers, and any more tips would be great..

Howie.

[Howie66]

Huffypilot..

I dont wuite get what you mean mate.. Are you basically saying to use the normal method, but do it backwards? ie: pump the air upwards so its bubbling on the resivour?

oh and any ideas on why the knob on the resivour wont tighten?

cheers

Howie

[Adamski]

dude. take your bike to a bike shop that isnt too busy, ask the bloke in the store to diagnose the problem/bleed em up and watch what he does. your brakes get fixed and you have now learned how to do it next time!

[Howie66]

OK guys, I fixed the problem..

Seems that the pistons in the resivours are left hand thread!!

everythings ok now, bled the sytem again (just incase air bubbles got into it wen i was stuffing around, which they did btw!!)

placed piston inside master cylinder, (left hand thread on the adjuster cap) filled the resivour, and yeah, everything is sweet now lol
It was just a pain in the ass not knowing, because as you put the mastercylinder back on the resivour, you cant really see what your doing..

Thanks for all your help tho fellas.. Seems tho bleeding the system was actually the easiest part of all this..

Brakes working again like new :)

I KNEW IT WAS SOMETHING SIMPLE! Hope Closed 2 Sports brakes should never just "stop working"

Cheers

Howie