For years I paid my brakes no mind. "If it ain't broke, ignore it", or something. Anyway, recently my brakes have been getting a bit mushy, so I decided it was time to do the most basic of maintanence - bleed them. I bought a set of "speed bleeders", which I have used on other cars to bleed brakes myself (they work great), and installed one on the left-rear wheel. Hooked up the tube to catch the old stuff, topped off the M/C res, and started pumping. And pumping. And pumping. 100 pumps and hardly any fluid is passing through the tube.
The pedal is going to the floor each time I pump.
So then, what now? Open up the cylinder? Rebuild the M/C? What would be the cause of this?
Thanks,
Steve
brake bleeding (not)
Re: brake bleeding (not)
Hi Steve,
I've seen something like you are experiencing. Jack up the rear of the car and spin the wheel. If you apply the brakes, does the rear wheel stop spinning? This would indicate the rear brakes are working, at least a little. You could have a friend press the brake pedal and see if you can turn the rear wheels by hand with the brakes applied. This would tell you the brakes seem to be working. Take your foot off the brake and remove the bleeder screw. You should see some brake fluid leaking out. If you do see this, you have a clogged bleeder screw. If you don't see any brake fluid, your rear brake cylinder is clogged and needs to be cleaned and, possibly, the rubber cups may need replacement.
good luck,
Dale
I've seen something like you are experiencing. Jack up the rear of the car and spin the wheel. If you apply the brakes, does the rear wheel stop spinning? This would indicate the rear brakes are working, at least a little. You could have a friend press the brake pedal and see if you can turn the rear wheels by hand with the brakes applied. This would tell you the brakes seem to be working. Take your foot off the brake and remove the bleeder screw. You should see some brake fluid leaking out. If you do see this, you have a clogged bleeder screw. If you don't see any brake fluid, your rear brake cylinder is clogged and needs to be cleaned and, possibly, the rubber cups may need replacement.
good luck,
Dale
> For years I paid my brakes no mind. "If it
> ain't broke, ignore it", or something. Anyway, recently my brakes have > been getting a bit mushy, so I decided it was time to do the most basic of > maintanence - bleed them. I bought a set of "speed bleeders", which I > have used on other cars to bleed brakes myself (they work great), and > installed one on the left-rear wheel. Hooked up the tube to catch the > old stuff, topped off the M/C res, and started pumping. And > pumping. And pumping. 100 pumps and hardly any fluid is passing > through the tube. The pedal is going to the floor each time I > pump.
> So then, what now? Open up the
> cylinder? Rebuild the M/C? What would be the cause of
> this?
> Thanks,
> Steve