| sixtiesHi list, I have a few basic rules when it comes to bleeding brakes that i have developed after 30 years in the motor trade. 1 : Never push the pedal to the floor unless the master cylinder is new or less than a year old, The reason for this is , the master cyl piston & seals have never been down that far in years & rust & corruption live down there & shreds the seals & in extreme cases the piston can stick at the bottom of the . bore. half stroke is the key, I have used a block of wood under pedal to control this stroke for bleeding only 2 : When releasing brake pedal, do it very slowly, if you let it spring back fast it allows air to get drawn in past the primary cup rather than gravity fluid supply from reservior, when releasing pedal a negative . . pressure is created at the piston seals unless you have a slow release, you will be bleeding air out of the system forever & in the end replace the master in frustration. 3 : Adjust all brake first, all drums I adjust till they are all locked up, then bleed (you should get the best pedal ever) If not, block brake hoses one at a time(use correct brake hose block off clamp tool, NOT VISE GRIPS.) to determine which circuit is causing all your pedal travel or spongy pedal feel. If at this stage you have narrowed down that one circuit won't bleed out nicely you can the try the HARD & FAST method, this is when (using two people) you stomp down (block of wood to control half pumps back in place under pedal) bleeder open, this has the result of moving the air bubbles that keep rising to the highest point (& staying in the system to give a not as good as you would like pedal). By this time you should have a rock hard pedal & now time to readjust drums for clearance , take your time on this as the results are rewarding when all is just right, brakes you feel very confident with. These rules apply to all cars (disc & or drum). But the great thing about Imperials is most have inch & one eighth bore master cylinders & displace alot of fluid per half pump (approx. 4-5 ) or if you have a new master , two full pumps just about empty the , It is very important not to let the reservior go empty as then you have to start the bleeding process all over again. A pressure bleeder is a great advantage but as most have discovered there is a clearance problem with the booster on most models ( the mid sixties on is ok I think ). Two people is a must, Safety comes first, no rush, renew your fluid every two years even if it didn't leave the garage, you will be surprised how long brakes last & never leak when correctly maintained. Hope this helps some out there good luck & safe braking. Peter J. Baikie. 58 crown coupe cruising around Australia with people who mostly have never seen an Imperial before.
On 07/01/2007, at 12:51 PM, Ken Lang wrote: Also make sure you DO NOT pump up the pedal hard and then release the bleed valve. It will take much longer to bleed the brakes and you will use more fluid. Open the bleed valve first then gently push the pedal to the floor. Then close the bleed valve and let the pedal return to normal position. Repeat the process for each wheel until several pumps of clear brake fluid come out of the bleed valve. Bleed the wheels in the following order: RR, LR, RF, then LF. The reason for doing it this way is to keep the air and fluid from mixing. Once you put the two together under extreme pressure you get aerated brake fluid. Then it’s nearly impossible to get all the air out and you will have spongy brakes. Ken I do not know that you should not have the engine running when bleeding the brakes other than for a safety issue. Whe you apply power brakes you are changing the vacuum to the engine so it is reasonable for the engine to run a little differently. ----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve B."
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, chrisstroh@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IML: bleeding disks
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 13:37:00 -0500
I'm bleeding my disks on my 67. With the
engine running, the pedal of course goes to the
floor until we start the bleeding process.
When I push the pedal to the floor, there is a
slight change in how the car runs. Does this
automatically mean that the booster is bad?
Should the engine have absolutely NO change
when the brakes are applied? Is it bad to bleed
the brakes while the engine is running?(I'm
taking advantage of the power brakes to pump
them).
Chris:
The car is not supposed to be running when
you bleed the brakes. The change in engine
idle would be expected if you were trying to
bleed with the engine running.
Steve B.
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