Silly Brakes question ..

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salty_monk
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Post by salty_monk »

Try putting a block of wood on the pedal, wedge it against the seat rail to hold the pedal down & leave it for a couple of days...

Bleed them both forwards (furthest away first) & backwards.

Make sure all your connections are tight too.

You'll get there. I did a full brake replacement incl all cylinders (& master, pipes, flexi's & new shoes) & had to do exactly the same. Mine was made worse by using silicon fluid! It was up on stands for about 4 days before I was confident that it could be driven.

Make sure you bleed them as a "two man job" (a "pedal pusher" reqd) those ones with the non return valves are not as good as the marketing bumpf says they are in my opinion....

Adjust the adjusters up so that they are very tight then back them off to where you can just about turn them by hand with a real struggle, will help them bed in quick. Also file a "leading edge" onto the front of the new brake shoes (basically break the corner with a file)...

Good Luck :D
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bmcecosse
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Post by bmcecosse »

I usually mange to bleed them while having a coffee! Fit tube to nipple - put end of tube in jar with fluid - open nipple - drink coffee. I find it runs out all the air just fine. Works on both Minor and Mini - both cars have rock solid pedal with virtually no 'travel'.
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JustinMinor1000
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Post by JustinMinor1000 »

bmcecosse wrote:I usually mange to bleed them while having a coffee! Fit tube to nipple - put end of tube in jar with fluid - open nipple - drink coffee. I find it runs out all the air just fine. Works on both Minor and Mini - both cars have rock solid pedal with virtually no 'travel'.
Well there is a Blue Mountain double shot espresso waiting for you when it's done :)
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rayofleamington
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Post by rayofleamington »

You'll get there. I did a full brake replacement incl all cylinders (& master, pipes, flexi's & new shoes) & had to do exactly the same. Mine was made worse by using silicon fluid! It was up on stands for about 4 days before I was confident that it could be driven.
Hmm... I'm doing that this week (except when playing with new toys) and am hoping to avoid the 4 days bleeding, but doing new cyliders, new m/c, new pipes and hoses and silicon fluid at the same time as new shoes alround, ready to get an MOT is about the worst combination possible.
(Driving it to bed the shoes in is going to be a bit of an escapade without an MOT - fortunately we have a non adopted back road.)
Ray. MMOC#47368. Forum moderator.

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where to break down next?
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Cam
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Post by Cam »

bmcecosse wrote:I usually mange to bleed them while having a coffee! Fit tube to nipple - put end of tube in jar with fluid - open nipple - drink coffee. I find it runs out all the air just fine. Works on both Minor and Mini - both cars have rock solid pedal with virtually no 'travel'.
:lol: I did that purely by accident when fitting my Escort axle to my Minor which only has one bleed nipple on one side. The other side is fed first and then across via a link pipe.

I left the bleed nipple slightly open and after I coupled everything up I noticed a pool of brake fluid forming. It had bled itself. :lol: I just tightened it up and away we went! :lol:

Thing is though that you've got to keep an eye on the reservoir as if it goes too low using the gravity method and takes air in then it's back to square one. :( Luckily I managed to catch mine before it went too low. :)
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JustinMinor1000
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Post by JustinMinor1000 »

Do we have a Dancing spanner emoticon ?

"Pod" now stops quickly and in a straight line. I even got a skidmark doing an emergency stop (and on the road as well).

When taking the advice of "Exclude nothing" .. I took off the front wheels and checked the adjustment .. I'm sure I did them .. it's possible that the garage took them off to bleed the brakes and forgot to put them back on ..

Regardless Pod is up for the MOT now ..

I love days like these .. Everything went right ..
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Cam
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Post by Cam »

Well done mate although I don't understand this bit:
I took off the front wheels and checked the adjustment .. I'm sure I did them .. it's possible that the garage took them off to bleed the brakes and forgot to put them back on ..
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minor_hickup
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Post by minor_hickup »

maybe he means slackened off the adjusters and forgot to re adjust them?
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JustinMinor1000
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Post by JustinMinor1000 »

minor_hickup wrote:maybe he means slackened off the adjusters and forgot to re adjust them?
That's what I mean't .. but now I'm starting to doubt myself ..
However .. dancing spanners to Ray for sure .. If I had done the adjusters first I'd just have had slightly spongy brakes and lived with it .. Now they are spot on :) Well worth all the grief ... And anyway I learn't a shedload :)
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bmcecosse
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Post by bmcecosse »

Have the double Bluemountain for me !
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Dominic
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Post by Dominic »

bmcecosse wrote:I usually mange to bleed them while having a coffee! Fit tube to nipple - put end of tube in jar with fluid - open nipple - drink coffee. I find it runs out all the air just fine. Works on both Minor and Mini - both cars have rock solid pedal with virtually no 'travel'.
Forgive me for resurrecting an old thread: -
BM, please could you explain your gravity method in greater depth? I presume you initially pump the fluid to the cylinders to get it over the M/C level? Do you then gravity bleed one at a time as per normal? Is Columbian an acceptable alternative to Blue Mountain?

Cheers, Dom.
Owns: Skoda Citigo
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bmcecosse
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Post by bmcecosse »

Yes - gentle squeeze to get it running and then the syphon takes over. I tend to have the car quite high up when working on it - so that probably helps.
In fact - it's usually tea I drink - Earl Grey after luncheon.
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Dominic
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Post by Dominic »

Thanks BM - I still prefer coffee though. Probably won't affect the braking too much I guess...............
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