Brake bleeding

[Mr. Moose [CoE]]

I bled my brakes after replacing some brake lines today. Using a one person method, I didn't have the results I wanted. It's an ABS car. Any ideas or suggestions for a more complete bleed would be much appreciated.

[rlarsen]

I've had pretty good luck with speedbleeders, but as far as one man methods go, I've never had much luck either.

[Shea]

Concur, speedbleeders make a one man show much, much easier. But it's always better with two....

[Kibo [CoE]]

Several suggestions:

1. Follow the proper bleeding order from the manual. Usually you start with the caliper furthest from the master cylinder and progressively work towards the closest. (I'm sure Mike already knows this, just adding it for completeness.)
2. Use a vacuum bleeder. I usually use a MityVac to bleed the system first.
3. In combination with #1, I smear gobs of grease around the outside of the bleeder screw where it threads into the caliper. This prevents the MityVac from sucking air in from there instead of pulling fluid through the lines.
4. Vacuum bleeding usually is good enough, but I try to follow this up with a 2-person bleed, as pushing on the pedal can pump fluid through the lines a bit faster than vacuum bleeding and helps dislodge those last tiny bubbles. Make sure the pedal pusher pre-pressurizes the system before opening the bleed screw (one of the advantages of using Speed Bleeders when bleeding one-person) and pushes the pedal slowly. I ask my helper to tell me before the pedal reaches the end of travel so I can close the bleed before the pedal bottoms out.
5. If the master cylinder has been removed/replaced or disconnected for any significant period of time, I highly recommend bench bleeding it first. You'll save yourself a headache.
6. I'm sure Mike already knows this, but an ABS system should be bled with the engine running. However, none of my DSMs have ABS, so I haven't had to deal with this.
7. If you're talking about a vehicle other than a DSM, some vehicles have a bleed screw at the proportioning valve.
8. If you have fixed calipers, make sure the transfer tube runs along the bottom and that both bleed screws point upwards. Bleed the outboard screw first, then the inboard screw. If your calipers have 4 bleed screws, only bleed from the top bleed screws.

This is usually enough to give me a rock-solid pedal. Hope there's something in there that helps you, Mike!

[Jason]

We use a Vacula system.

http://www.vacula.com/newsite/produk...p?product_id=6

Works awesome. Works well for clutch slave cylinders too.

[JSMCPN]

Speed bleeders coupled with one of those handheld vacuum pumps with a plastic fluid reservoir is what I suggest.