Bleeding Brakes

[jbcollier]

Ok, you have a duff cylinder.  I did my single circuit set up by bench bleeding the master, and then just pumping through 10 pumps out each bleed nipple.  Hard pedal after that and I did it with no assistant.  Just saying this to show how straight forward it should be.

[SilverBeast]

Am I correct in saying you have now tried two new master cylinders. Is it worth going back to the first one now you have sorted your flexi's?

Did you buy them all at the same time from the same supplier? Is it worth contacting them to see if they know of a "bad" batch?

[4129R]

Ok, you have a duff cylinder.  I did my single circuit set up by bench bleeding the master, and then just pumping through 10 pumps out each bleed nipple.  Hard pedal after that and I did it with no assistant.  Just saying this to show how straight forward it should be.

It was that simple with the last 5 that I have done.

Here is hoping one of my other two will work normally.

[4129R]

Am I correct in saying you have now tried two new master cylinders. Is it worth going back to the first one now you have sorted your flexi's?

Did you buy them all at the same time from the same supplier? Is it worth contacting them to see if they know of a "bad" batch?

2 from Banks ages ago. 1 from AN other last week.

AN other will be fitted tomorrow.

[4129R]

SUCCESS !!!

I bench bled a brand new Girling 3/4" MC, plugged both holes, fitted the MC, pressurised the reservoir, and bled the air out from the pipe going into the side of the servo.

I now have a solid brake pedal.

The faults turned out to be:-

4 rubber brake hoses that had closed up, and needed replacing.
1 brake drum wheel cylinder that would not pass fluid through to the bleed nipple.
1 faulty brand new master cylinder that had been sitting around dry for a few years.

Cost of fixing, about £28 for hoses, £12 for wheel cylinder, £30 for a master cylinder and about 4 litres of brake fluid which managed to leak everywhere.   

Thanks for your assistance. Discussing a difficult problem with others gets there in the end. 

[SilverBeast]

Great.  Glad you are sorted. 

[Pfreen]

Wow Bruce.  You got all your bad luck out of the way.

I am glad you fixed it.

[BDA]

Congratulations on finding the source of a perplexing problem! 

[SilverBeast]

I have ordered all 4 hoses for £28.00 on eBay.

Did these come with the washers and nuts? The Ebay UK listing I can see selling a set for that price doesn't show them on the image, or mention them in the description.

[4129R]

No, they did not come with the washers and nuts, and some of the old thin nuts were not re-useable, and the thin star washers are hard to find if lost or not re-useable.

[SilverBeast]

Thanks

[4129R]

Thanks

If you use standard thickness nuts, check to make sure the pipe union nut does not hit the thick nut and leave the union loose. If you just use 1 star washer on the nut side of the hose, there is just about enough clearance for the pipe union to be tight. If not, grind a bit off the thick nut, and run a bolt through it to make sure the thread is clear, as fitting the nut to the hose with a jammed thread wastes a lot of time and more spanner rash.

[jbcollier]

Half nuts are readily available at industrial suppliers.  It's 3/8x24NF thread.  Same with anti-vibration lock washers.

[4129R]

I am just about to start filling #7 Europa with brake fluid, and start bleeding the system.

I put the new M/C in the vice, connected tubes to the in and out, filled the remote with fluid, did 3 pumps and the remote reservoir started bubbling, and fluid leaked out all along the push rod.

It seems either they were from a bad batch, or they don't like sitting around dry for a long time.

New M/C on order from eBay.

[4129R]

New M/C arrived quicker than expected.

Bench bled easily.

New rubber brake hoses and drum wheel cylinders.

I pressurised the remote reservoir and bled all 4 bleed nipples in under 10 minutes on my own.

Success. I wish the previous 6 had been so easy.

The only thing that took time was getting the M/C extension rod the right length so all 3 pedals were in line. I had to use an old extension as the new ones did not leave enough thread at the joints.