I hate working on brakes

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
05/10/2020 at 13:52 • Filed to: The Alfa Doesn't Have A Tag Yet, brakelopnik

Seriously. Why do I do this to myself? It has never gone smoothly.

Didn’t take any pictures, so you get gifs.

The Alfa’s rear flex hose was due for replacement, so I did that. Funny enough, looking at it it looked... fine? But I guess these can fail without any external indications so I went ahead and changed it anyway.

And then spent the next 8 years of my life bleeding brakes.

One thing to note is I don’t bleed brakes often, maybe once a year at most, and every time I do it is an ordeal. I thought buying a MightyVac would make it better, and it does... sort of, but overall the process is still a pain.

So anyway... here is how it went.

Put the car on ramps, tires on (stupid), and connected to the rear right bleed screw. Drew out all the old fluid and a ton of air, but never stopped getting air bubbles.

Shut the bleed screw. Still getting air bubbles.

Changed out the bleed fitting for a tighter one.

Still getting air bubbles.

Changed out the bleed fitting for an even tighter one.

No more air bubbles with the bleed screw closed!

Open bleed screw and get consistent, large air bubbles.

Gave up on that and switched to the rear left, but mostly got air.

Looked it up on the internets.

Remembered that bleed screws draw in air through the threads and therefore suck.. Removed both bleed screws, weeping fluid EVERYWHERE in the process, and re-inserted them with teflon tape.

MUCH BETTER BLEED, but still getting the occasional large air bubble. Unsure if it is real or coming through the fitting.

Switch to the front brakes. Pull the bleed screws and wrap them in teflon tape. Good, solid bleed with no bubbles. Hooray!

Changed the brake pads while I was there. Ripped the dust boots.

Check the internet. No way to get new calipers before Thursday. Internet seems to think this is a 1-2 year problem, not a 1-2 day. Sending it.

Finish with fronts.

Check the pedal. Immediately sinks to the floor.

Despair.

Re-bleed the rears.

Rear right bleeds fine with no apparent air bubbles.

Rear left is covered in fluid, looks like the bleed screw might have been leaking. Go to bleed but I guess the teflon has weakened at this point because I’m back to getting consistent, medium air bubbles. Everything I read says they should be tiny and mine are like... 1/4" but very consistent. No idea if they’re “real” or not.

Close everything up and give up for the night.

Next morning drive the car off the ramps. Brakes work fine.

Check brake fluid and rear looks low like it might have been leaking.

Further despair.

Pull the rear left wheel off, COVER the bleed screw in grease af ter reading that can stop air leaks. Bleeds normally, but did have some air in it (maybe?).

Tighten bleed screw but leave wheel off to check for leaks.

2 liters of brake fluid later I think I might be done.

Might.

Fuck I hate working on brakes.

DISCUSSION (15)

LeftOfTheDial > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 13:55

I’ve had decent success with the Russell speed bleeders, maybe something to look into especially if you're doing it alone and plan on keeping the car

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 14:17

This is the reason why I will give all my cars to a shop to bleed my brakes, its a massive pita

facw > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 14:37

You are making me feel better about my decision (not yet implemented) to let my shop swap out my brake hoses and flush the fluid...

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 14:47

i hate working on townbikes...

took me about an hour just to figure out how to get the chain guard off without breaking it....turns out theres an order to removing it...and its made of 5 parts for some reason

then i had to disassemble pretty much the whole rear of the bike....

i just wanted to swap a tire....i shouldnt need to take apart half the bike for that shit.....fuck

in wheel brakes and gears suck

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 14:58

I agree that brakes are weird. The LR just doesn’t like to stay bled. The pedal will get squishy after a few days, though I haven’t tried heavy duty brake fluid yet.

Sovande > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 15:13

I hate that shit too. I recently replaced the leaking master cylinder on the El Camino and then had to bleed the brakes. W hen I went to loosen the bleed nipple from the first front caliper it broke off. It was amazing how easy it was. I put the wheels back on and drove it directly to mechanic. He proceeded to break off the remaining front caliper nipple on the other side and then just went ahead and put new calipers on. I’ll change the brake pads, but at this point I don’t do anything else. It’s never worth it. I always end up at the shop spending money.

PyramidHat > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 15:21

For the BMW, I got a pressure bleeder. I’m told they work better than vacuum (never got to use it as I wound up having a shop do the brakes due to the rotors being fused with rust)

sn4cktimes > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 16:18

I had a shop do the brake fluid change on my Rampage. I did my Jeep and the wife’s Golf when years ago . I don’t mind changing pads and whatnot. I despise pretty much everything to do with drum brakes. They are dumb, and annoy me. When I eventually have to do any rear axle work on the Eagle I’m removing them and converting them to callipers. Probably a Wilwood setup. Easiest brake job I ever did was a Corvette Stingray II with a Wilwood conversion when I was a teenager. Took me less than an hour to do all four wheels without a car lift. Sweet $100 cash in my pocket; in the mid 90's!

Urambo Tauro > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 16:25

What, no broken bleeder screws? Sounds like you got off easy

MM54 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 17:13

Hydraulics suck to work on, I’ve done a lot of work on a lot of different cars and it’s never easy. I too thought a mityvac or similar would help, but as you said, it just pulls air around the threads so there’s no telling if the bleed is done or not. Speed bleeders are rad for one or two bleeds, but then they also pull in air around the threads.

I anticipate buying a pressure bleeder before I have any (planned) brake work to do which requires a subsequent bleed.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Urambo Tauro
05/10/2020 at 17:27

The joys of California cars. Don’t worry, the Jag is next and it has 2 rusty bleed screw per caliper and VERY expensive calipers. I’ve started hitting them with PB Blaster daily in anticipation.

Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 18:22

The Motive Power bleeder is your friend. It creates pressure instead of vacuum and can help find leaks. It’s worth the money all day everyday.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 18:41

Brakes are the biggest pita and also the most crucial. I bought a power bleeder a while back and that made it slightly less of a pita. I still hate doing them, though.

Urambo Tauro > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 20:02

Yikes, I hope you have a torch (even if it’s just a little propane torch) handy. I wouldn’t even touch those without heating up the caliper a little first.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/10/2020 at 20:33

I’ve been in brake bleeding hell with the TR6 a number of times. I’ve heard that cars with old MCs get rough spots on the cylinder beyond the normal range of travel. So when you open the bleed screws and hit the pedal to the floor, it goes way beyond its normal range of motion and you can get air in from the MC somehow.

I had a little trouble with my Jaguar after I put in new hoses, MC and front calipers. Got fluid ok at the FL but nothing at the FR. Turned out the FR had a slight clog right at the bleeder screw and it flowed fine after took the bleeder out and poked it.