Brake Fluid Change

[tris]

I'm going to give the bike a treat and change the brake fluid on my 95 Cali.

I have a vac bleeder on the way

Re the linked brakes do I bleed it back to the proportioning valve and then do the 2 callipers or go straight to the calliper bleed nipples?

 Cheers

Tris

[smartin108]

 

[Wayne Orwig]

I usually do the entire thing in one shot. Two things.
1) Don't get air in the integrated brake line.
2) The rear caliper bleed screw faces down. You want to remove the caliper and rotate it so the screw is up.
3) Don't get air in the integrated brake line.

Ok, three things.
Oh, and don't get air in that line......

[Mike Tashjian]

If you push the caliper pistons all the way in and use wooden wedges to hold them there, Almost all the fluid will be flushed through.  And it gives you a chance to see if they are moving freely.  Mike

[Rich A]

You might want to put some kind of penetrant on the bleeder, and use a good wrench to remove it. It can be a pain in the neck when they snap off. You might even want to get a couple of spares to have on hand.

Rich A

[toaster404]

Very careful not to get air in master - can be a pain to get it out.  If you end up with bubbles, tap everything that might trap them with a screwdriver handle or equivalent.

[lrutt]

1 shot, suck the fluid out of the MC first, or most of it, fill with fresh, then move to caliper. repeat until it's clean out of the caliper, move to next one.

Easy peasy.

[Perazzimx14]

Check out "reverse bleeding" for your brakes. It works a treat and is much simplier.

Parts needed: 2 syringes and a small section of 1/4"ish tubing.

1. Open MC and suck out as much of the old fluid as possible.
2. Tie brake lever to the handle bar or weight the foot pedel to simulate braking.
3. Fill syringe full of brake fluid
4. Put the proper size box end wrench over the bleed nipple and then connect the brake bleed nipple to the syringe with a small section of tubing.
5. Hold the syringe upright to let the tubing fill with fluid and the air bubble to go up towards the plunger
6. Syringe in 1 hand and while gently depressing the plundger w/ your thumb crack the bleed nipple with your other and inject air free brake fluid into the caliper.
7. When MC gets full close the bleeder and suck out the old fluid in the resi then repeat until clear fluid fills the MC.

The advantage of reverse bleeding is you are pushing any air up to the MC and not trying to suck in downward through the caliper. I bled the linked brakes on my V50 with a Mity Vac and it took hours and pints of fluid to get them properly bled. After rebuilding the calipers and adding SS lines on my T3 I was not looking forward to bleeding the brakes. Then I found out about reverse bleeding and thought what the heck I'll give it a try. In 20 minutes i was cleaning up the tools and admiring a job well done.

[twhitaker]

www.speedbleeder.co m

My '96 Cali took the SB1010S on all three calipers and they work like a charm. Get the bleed bag too.

[alanp]

Check out "reverse bleeding" for your brakes. It works a treat and is much simplier.

Parts needed: 2 syringes and a small section of 1/4"ish tubing.

1. Open MC and suck out as much of the old fluid as possible.
2. Tie brake lever to the handle bar or weight the foot pedel to simulate braking.
3. Fill syringe full of brake fluid
4. Put the proper size box end wrench over the bleed nipple and then connect the brake bleed nipple to the syringe with a small section of tubing.
5. Hold the syringe upright to let the tubing fill with fluid and the air bubble to go up towards the plunger
6. Syringe in 1 hand and while gently depressing the plundger w/ your thumb crack the bleed nipple with your other and inject air free brake fluid into the caliper.
7. When MC gets full close the bleeder and suck out the old fluid in the resi then repeat until clear fluid fills the MC.

The advantage of reverse bleeding is you are pushing any air up to the MC and not trying to suck in downward through the caliper. I bled the linked brakes on my V50 with a Mity Vac and it took hours and pints of fluid to get them properly bled. After rebuilding the calipers and adding SS lines on my T3 I was not looking forward to bleeding the brakes. Then I found out about reverse bleeding and thought what the heck I'll give it a try. In 20 minutes i was cleaning up the tools and admiring a job well done.

This seems like a great way to go, but I have a question.  Why do you say you need 2 syringes?  It seems like you are only using 1?

[normzone]

Tie tubing around arm, clench fist, slap vein a few times...

[redrider]

I use the HF vacuum bleeder. Piece of pie. It does need an air compressor to function, though.

Regardless of method, a dab of grease on the nipple threads helps sealing. To clean calipers, use a paint stick between the pistons/pucks and give the caliper a shot of compressed air into the caliper where the nipple would be. Remove O-rings and clean underneath with a pick. Easy as cake.

[Perazzimx14]

This seems like a great way to go, but I have a question.  Why do you say you need 2 syringes?  It seems like you are only using 1?

One syringe to push in brake fluid and the second for clearing the MC of fluid being pushed into it. You can certainly use one syringe but it takes longer due to switching back and forth from blow to suck.

[tris]

Cheers everyone - I guess the key take away is DONT GET AIR IN THE INTEGRATED BRAKE LINE