bleeding brakes

Post by **grumpygrandad** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:30 pm

hello we are going to look at the brakes on the morris is there any problems bleeding the front brakes as i understand morris brakes arent the esiest to do .thanks. grandad

Post by **Kevin** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:54 pm

If you are just bleeding them as part of a service there should be no problems as sometimes occurs with cylinder replacement.

Post by **grumpygrandad** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:06 pm

having drums offto clean and see what state of shoes and any weeping seals.just being carefull as i would like my wife to drive it some times,got new seals incase needed..grandad

Post by **alainmoran** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:15 pm

If it were me, I'd bleed all the way around not just the front .. but then I'm a glutton for getting oily so....

Post by **grumpygrandad** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:23 pm

yes we will be doing all the brakes,,grandad

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:20 pm

My tried and trusted method - length of clear plastic tube in a jam jar with an inch of fuid - make a cup of coffee - put tube on nipple and open nipple - drink coffee. You 'may' need to press the pedal down and let slowly up once to get the syphon going, but often it runs without outside assistance - because of the residual system pressure caused by the little 'top-hat' rubber in the master cylinder. If any air present you can see the little bubbles travelling along the plastic tube. And of course - in between sips of coffee - top up the master cylinder!

Post by **MGFmad** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:37 pm

I am going to give your method a go BMC, once my new cylinders are fitted. I normally use a pressure bleeder but don't have a fitting to attach it to the Morris's master cylinder. I could adapt the cap from the old m/c but by the time I did all that, the brakes would be bled (fingers crossed!)

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:49 pm

It works - although for new /empty cylinders you may need two presses of the pedal - and perhaps two cups of coffee!

Post by **rob.hardy1** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:39 pm

Bmceccose. Can i just claify, you just put on the tube, open the nipple, 1 or 2 pumps and wait?
I have replaced the shoes and cylinders on the front of my MEA tonight and will be bleeding the brakes tomorrow and i have always assumed it was a two handed job. ( 1 opening and closing the nipple and one getting bored pumping the pedal when instructed UP or DOWN )

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:50 pm

Well - it works for me! And used it on Minors/Minis and most recently TR7 where I renewed rear wheel cylinder rubbers - and by the time I had nipped in to the house to get the coffee - the brake had bleed through very nicely without me even touching the pedal. There has to be some fluid in the jar of course to make sure it doesn't suck up air if/when you pump the pedal.

Post by **Dean** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:10 pm

Thinking about it there is no reason why it wouldn't work. As long as you (like BMC says) have a bit of juice in the jar and keep the cap off the master cylinder and keep it topped up. Gravity does the rest, a push of the pedal will start the syphon. Looking forward to trying it.

Post by **grumpygrandad** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:38 pm

thankyou we willl try let youknow what happens thankyou ,,grandad

Post by **alainmoran** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:58 pm

nice tip .. i'll try that next time i need to bleed my brakes (the front end is coming off soon so that I can cold galvanise the chassis legs)

Post by **minor_hickup** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:44 pm

BMCEccosse does it work with tea?

Post by **Dean** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:07 am

minor_hickup wrote:BMCEccosse does it work with tea?

Suppose it depends if you get the brake fluid and the tea the wrong way around!

Post by **aupickup** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:59 am

so is that a jar and tube on each nipple

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:42 pm

Only with Earl Grey.
I only do one cylinder at a time - so yes one tube and one jammy.

Post by **stag36587** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:50 pm

I agree with BMCecosse - I've used the same method for my Stag though have to admit to eating a bar of chocolate along with the coffee...

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:52 pm

Welll - Kit Kat for me !

Post by **Dean** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:34 pm

aupickup wrote:so is that a jar and tube on each nipple

I dare you to try a crocodile clip!