Brake bleeding
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Brake bleeding
I changed the passenger rear brake caliper due to leaky piston. Blead the brakes, seemed ok, but they've gone soft again. Blead again, and went soft again a second time. This is the fartherst point from the master cylinder so i didnt think we'd need to bleed the all four callipers. Right or wrong?, or what else could be wrong? This is a 1973, 350.
Last edited by tarheelsoldier; Oct 5, 2011 at 04:39 PM.
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,503
Likes: 2,498
I guess it depends how much fluid you lost when the caliper was off. You could try doing the other rear caliper. What bleeding method are you using? Have you tried tapping the caliper with a hammer as you were bleeding to dislodge any air pockets?
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Ive not tried hitting the caliper with a hammer as we bleed. But we're just pressing the brake pedal three times still it stiffens, then bleed, close nut upon the fluid stopping and re-pump the pedal. I think before we do anything drastic, i'll bleed the LR calliper and then the RR and see what happens.
Last edited by tarheelsoldier; Oct 5, 2011 at 04:47 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,070
Likes: 5
From: N.Richland Hills Texas
Somewhere in the CF is my sad tale of "helping" a friend bleed his '82 brakes ... We tried his fancy new pump, old style ect Then after several hours we took it to a brake shop....Turns out there was a hairline crack in the master cylinder ....
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Grand Sport & Grand Sport X Launch Alongside All-New 535hp LS6 V8!
Michael S. Palmer
5 Reasons Bad Drivers Crash & 5 Ways to Avoid a Costly Mistake!
Joe Kucinski
7 Bolt-On Upgrades From Extreme Online Store to Level Up Your C6 Corvette
Pouria Savadkouei
How Likely Are These Five 2027 Corvette Rumors to Be True?
Brett Foote
9 Best Corvettes You Can Buy for Half Price (& 1 You Should NEVER Buy!)
Joe Kucinski
8 Very Best Corvettes of Amelia Island 2026
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 WORST Corvette Engineering Failures of All Time!
Joe Kucinski
10 Records the C8 Corvette Generation Has SMASHED (& 1 Glaring Failure)
Joe Kucinski
7 Wildest Corvette Concepts Ever Made
Brett Foote
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,070
Likes: 5
From: N.Richland Hills Texas
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 6,242
Likes: 468
From: Glen Allen, VA
I'm gonna put my 2 cents in for a Motive Power bleeder. I had the exact problem on the same caliper on my 79. I bled all 4 calipers, just as much to flush the system as anything, by myself, btw, and to this day, my brakes have never worked so good.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,148
Likes: 5
From: South Dakota
While doing my '69, I gravity fed and bled them first. Then the one person pump and another person bleed way. The brakes worked good, but the pedal was at the bottom. I had a friend come over to bleed them again. He would put pressure on the pedal and I would bleed. Worked OK a couple of times, but then nothing. I started the car and did it while running. Pedal would be hard on the first bleed and then the same as before on the second. Shut the car off and bleed. Turn the car on and bleed. Back and forth on the pedal pressure. No air in the system that I could tell. Once the pedal went hard, I stopped. The brakes continue to be hard and work OK. Sometimes I just don't understand the simplest of things.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,645
Likes: 11
From: Schaumburg IL
The Motive power bleeder was the best investment for Vette brakes that I made.
Another person commented: I'm gonna put my 2 cents in for a Motive Power bleeder. I had the exact problem on the same caliper on my 79. I bled all 4 calipers, just as much to flush the system as anything, by myself, btw, and to this day, my brakes have never worked so good.
Go to their site www.motiveproducts.com and ck them out. Oh also make sure the recommended sequence is followed too. Makes a difference.
Another person commented: I'm gonna put my 2 cents in for a Motive Power bleeder. I had the exact problem on the same caliper on my 79. I bled all 4 calipers, just as much to flush the system as anything, by myself, btw, and to this day, my brakes have never worked so good.
Go to their site www.motiveproducts.com and ck them out. Oh also make sure the recommended sequence is followed too. Makes a difference.
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,879
Likes: 38
From: Los Gatos CA
Motive Bleeder was the only thing that worked for me. I have done 3 complete C3 brake jobs. And a bazillion other cars (nothing to it). I used low pressure, maybe 10 to 12 psi, and went around twice. Finally I had brakes! Say what you will, but these brakes are difficult to bleed. I consider this bad (and dangerous) design.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,645
Likes: 11
From: Schaumburg IL
I believe the round universal that comes with several different master cyl covers. If I remember right, several years ago it was like 69.00.
These units also make a brake flush a easy task (if anything is easy) without turning into a nightmare of bleed, rebleed etc.
These units also make a brake flush a easy task (if anything is easy) without turning into a nightmare of bleed, rebleed etc.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Well,, we bled both rears, both inner and outer caliper and the brakes still went soft. I do have a motive products power bleeder and im putting it to use next. We'll bleed all brakes front and rear.
Last edited by tarheelsoldier; Oct 13, 2011 at 05:31 PM.