Bleeding brakes

[fy469rtse]

About to bleed completely empty brake system , my questions are ?
1. What's the best way
2. How much brake fluid to get ?
3. What's the best suited to our cars?
4. Best way to bench bleed master cylinder ?
Been told to clamp all soft lines and work on one area or line only is this the best way ?
Tedious job on your own so best method from members on hear please, not looking forward to this one and have put it off knowing how long it takes

[Ghoste]

If you could get one of those pressure setups the shops use that would be awesome but likely you will need a lot of patience.  You can get kits to help you do it alone so I recommend that.  I don't know how much the whole system holds, a couple of quarts?  Since its dry, this might be a good time to switch to a Dot5 fluid.  Bench bleeding I just clamp the mc in a vise, fill the cylinders, set (not install) the cap on and push the piston in with a big screwdriver.  You'll want to bend up a couple of lines dumping back into the cylinders.  And yes, work on one section at a time starting from the furthest from the master cylinder and working to the closest.  I've heard of people cracking the four points and letting gravity help them out overnite but never tried that myself.
I'm sure one of the techs will have better advice.

[fy469rtse]

Knew you would be one of the first to reply, thanks sounds like good avice, no pressure systems over here for the dyi
Taken master cylinder back off , clamped it in vice, going to bench bleed it in the morning,
Any advice on changing temp lines to cars ones without getting brake fluid drips on anything ?
Dot 5 , better ? What's the differances
Have a bleeding system that I bought many years ago, fit hose to bleeder to line your working on
That hose is in a bottle that the end Is in brake fluid, allows you too slowly pump pedal with bleeder open, the premise is that as pedal returns it sucks fluid up, not air, more like a fluid change over system than bleed , but have had good results in the past, time consuming because you can't let reservoir get too low, so continually filling master cylinder , just never had a completely empty new system before

[Aero426]

I would stick with conventional DOT 3 or 4 brake fluid.   The key is flushing it out periodically.     DOT 5 does not absorb water, but you always seem to hear mixed reviews on how it performs.   Not sure if your experience would be better  because you are starting with an empty system.

Bench bleed the master cylinder first as described.    Changing over to your hard lines should not make a big mess.   I put a towel underneath and wipe or flush the surface with water quickly after that.  

Start with the line furthest out in the system and bleed that one first.    Having a helper will save a lot of time.   I still prefer to shut the bleeder when lifting the brake pedal, even if the hose is immersed in fluid.   I do all four and then go around the horn again to finish it up.    

On some of my cars, I have speedbleeders which have a spring loaded check ball in them to prevent air coming back into the system.    They work really well if you have to work by myself, but I would not consider them necessary at all.   They are in the Dorman HELP aisle at the parts store or you order them direct.  www.speedbleeder.com  

If the M/C is properly bench bled and you don't run it dry, the job should be cake.

[tan top]

yep what other guys say !!    & stay away from dot 5 ,  go with 3 or 4  I always use 4