How to bleed the brakes
Discussion
You can use a reverse bleeder in a one man setup.
Or you can do it the old fashion way with 2 people. 1 pumps the brakes a few strokes hold the pedal about half way down and the other person turns the bleeder as air and some fluid is expelled. Close bleeder before the pedal hits the bottom of the travel. I like to use a small hose going in to a jar to catch the expelled fluid and to keep it away from the pads. Repeat as needed (several times a wheel if fluid has been drained). Do each wheel in the same manner. Keep the resevoir filled, check this often as a slip up here and you will start at the begining. Oh I forgot, remeber to take off the wheels first. I recall one person trying to do this with the wheel on. Ha-ha a valiant attempt but much easier with the wheels off.
Calvin
Or you can do it the old fashion way with 2 people. 1 pumps the brakes a few strokes hold the pedal about half way down and the other person turns the bleeder as air and some fluid is expelled. Close bleeder before the pedal hits the bottom of the travel. I like to use a small hose going in to a jar to catch the expelled fluid and to keep it away from the pads. Repeat as needed (several times a wheel if fluid has been drained). Do each wheel in the same manner. Keep the resevoir filled, check this often as a slip up here and you will start at the begining. Oh I forgot, remeber to take off the wheels first. I recall one person trying to do this with the wheel on. Ha-ha a valiant attempt but much easier with the wheels off.
Calvin
Start with right rear, left rear, right front, left front last. Of course as Calvin said, always keep an eye on fluid level. Without a pressure bleeder, the two person method works best, but in the field we let the pedal hit the floor before closing bleeder to make sure any air can escape and do the procedure a couple of times after no air is seen.
Robert
Robert
That's a couple of times per caliper, not doing the same procedure twice all the way around. Sorry if I mislead you in the thought.
Robert
P.S. I have read many of Calvins posts on repairs and as a professional tech, I agree with him on all of his
suggestions plus I had the pleasure of meeting him at LOG 22... a really great guy and a valuable asset to the list!
Robert
P.S. I have read many of Calvins posts on repairs and as a professional tech, I agree with him on all of his
suggestions plus I had the pleasure of meeting him at LOG 22... a really great guy and a valuable asset to the list!
Robert,
Thanks for the kind words. I am just a hobbist so it means a lot comming from a pro like yourself. I owe it all to those maniacs I hangs around with from the local Lotus club. When ever someone has a problem, their answer is let's take a look. Which usually means take you car apart, remove the engine, or something like that. We have yanked 4 engines this year. They have reduced removing or installing an engine/transmission assembly to few short hours working as a rotating 4 man crew that can take over when some needs a break. The person that fills that position just takes over without missing a beat. Even when taking apart an engine everyone knows what to do cleaning, inspecting, bagging all removed parts, and properly labeling each part, fastner, and from what location removed in to proper bins. Never seen anything like it before outside of a shop. They work like automated machines not saying much until something out of spec is spotted then it's hey guys come look at this and then it's all ooohh, ahhhh, and opinions on how it got that way. I feel more at home working on the SE than my daily driver (Mercury Tracer)a Ford product like an Escort for you overseas guys. It took me longer to change brake pads in that than the Esprit.
Keep checking this site Robert, it's a fun place for us to visit.
Calvin
Thanks for the kind words. I am just a hobbist so it means a lot comming from a pro like yourself. I owe it all to those maniacs I hangs around with from the local Lotus club. When ever someone has a problem, their answer is let's take a look. Which usually means take you car apart, remove the engine, or something like that. We have yanked 4 engines this year. They have reduced removing or installing an engine/transmission assembly to few short hours working as a rotating 4 man crew that can take over when some needs a break. The person that fills that position just takes over without missing a beat. Even when taking apart an engine everyone knows what to do cleaning, inspecting, bagging all removed parts, and properly labeling each part, fastner, and from what location removed in to proper bins. Never seen anything like it before outside of a shop. They work like automated machines not saying much until something out of spec is spotted then it's hey guys come look at this and then it's all ooohh, ahhhh, and opinions on how it got that way. I feel more at home working on the SE than my daily driver (Mercury Tracer)a Ford product like an Escort for you overseas guys. It took me longer to change brake pads in that than the Esprit.
Keep checking this site Robert, it's a fun place for us to visit.
Calvin
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