Bleeding brakes after full overhaul - tips?

[jimk]

I got tired of the bottles falling over so I use a hose with a check valve.

[stephers]

OOps, hit the wrong button      Once you have the other end of the hose attached to a bleeder screw ( I use some mechanics wire wrapped around the neck of the bottle to be able to hang the bottle near the caliper )   Make sure the reservoir is ALWAYS full with that bleeder wide open , pump the pedal  until no more bubbles are seen in your catch bottle.  simply close that bleeder and move to nextDo each bleeder and caliper/wheel cyl like this.       I find that sometimes I may have to do this process twice but rarely     Always get a nice hard pedal fairly quickly and no or little mess         And it's cheap to make     Biggest thing is to never let that hose in the bottle come out of the fluid, as long as the end is submerged, you can't suck air back into the system

 

Yes bleed the clutch as well    Same way             If you still have a soft pedal, check you M/C, it may be bad as well

 

Thanks, Rick

['76mintgrün'02]

I put two holes in the lid.  One for the hose and another for a hanging wire.

 

 

I think the clutch needs bleeding more often than the brakes.  The master cylinder makes a mess out of the non-circulating fluid and it can build up a bunch of grey sludge.

 

+ 6 for the Motive pressure bleeder.  (Or, make something similar).

 

 

I just use mine as an air pump and keep filling the reservoir, to keep from having to clean out the motive bottle/hose/pump.  The clear hose finally disintegrated on mine after ten years, so I used some left over blue brake hose as a replacement.  

Edited January 21, 2023 by '76mintgrün'02

[Pablo M]

3 hours ago, stephers said:

This is the way that I have been bleeding systems ( all kinds of cars ) for years and all by myself.     So simple       get an old clear plastic pop bottle, drill a hole ( or 2 ) in the lid so a hose can get thru it, fill the bottle about a 1/4 full, make sure the end of the hose in the bottle stays under the top of the fluid 

Thanks but I have a purpose built bottle for bleeding brakes. Has magnet too so I can attach to the car. 
I was actually looking for more specific tips related to bleeding a system that had gone empty and if there were any specific considerations. 

[Chris_B]

7 hours ago, Pablo M said:

Clutch. I didn’t do anything with the clutch. What should be done there? I didn’t come across anything related to clutch as part of brake bleeding, but was wondering about that since it’s the same reservoir. 

This is a separate issue, but you should for sure bleed your clutch cyl. If you haven't done it for a while, there will likely be a rotten, dirty fluid in there that is best to remove.

[Son of Marty]

For 50 bucks buy a motive and don't look back, it's not like your going to bleed the brakes one time it needs to be done every 2 years or less.

[Pablo M]

17 minutes ago, Chris_B said:

This is a separate issue, but you should for sure bleed your clutch cyl. If you haven't done it for a while, there will likely be a rotten, dirty fluid in there that is best to remove.

That’s what I was wondering. Yes, I bled it today before doing the brakes again. Surprisingly clean, and looks pretty new. I’ll have to check my records but I think it was replaced shortly before this car was parked for 10+ years. 

9 minutes ago, Son of Marty said:

For 50 bucks buy a motive and don't look back, it's not like your going to bleed the brakes one time it needs to be done every 2 years or less.

I have one. Thought I read here doing it old school was better. Regardless, was nice to get my 15 yr old out to help me lol. 

[larry_in_socal]

9 hours ago, Son of Marty said:

Are the front bleeders pointed up, it is possible to switch them side to side.

Quick Story....

sometime in the mid 80's... I had a 62' convertible VW bug.. and I converted it to disk brakes back then, I tried and tried to get the brakes to build pressure, ended up taking it to a local VW shop, the owner "fixed" the brakes, he said that I had the bleed nipples switched, left on right side, right on left side... However.. here is the kicker.. he charged me $180 bucks to tell me I had the calipers switched. Needless to say, lesson learned, I never went back to that guy.

 

 $180 bucks back then was lots of money... that's $445 in today's prices.

 

We didn't have the internet back then, so knowledge was king...

[jgerock]

9 hours ago, larry_in_socal said:

Quick Story....

sometime in the mid 80's... I had a 62' convertible VW bug.. and I converted it to disk brakes back then, I tried and tried to get the brakes to build pressure, ended up taking it to a local VW shop, the owner "fixed" the brakes, he said that I had the bleed nipples switched, left on right side, right on left side... However.. here is the kicker.. he charged me $180 bucks to tell me I had the calipers switched. Needless to say, lesson learned, I never went back to that guy.

 

 $180 bucks back then was lots of money... that's $445 in today's prices.

 

We didn't have the internet back then, so knowledge was king...

My last Beetle was sold in 2012. When I restored it, I replaced everything in the brake system (converted it to 4 wheel discs).  I couldn’t get any fluid to any wheel!  Upon further inspection, there were tiny dust cups inside the master cylinder inlets. I forgot to remove them 😂.