I'm at the end of my Z06 brake upgrade project and all that is left is bleeding the brakes.
I bought the speed bleeders (one-way check valves) when I bought the SS brake lines, but they only sent 4. The Z06 calipers have 8 bleed screws.
My question is do I need to get 4 more speed bleeders, use the 4 I have or skip them all together?
If I only use the 4 I have, how should they be used? Should I put them on say both front calipers, both rear calipers or one in each caliper?

 

Not really a fan of speed bleeders, since I use a power bleeder up at the tank instead. In theory, the bleeders should work OK, but in practical terms, you always end up with a air gap between the threads when they are loosed a few times that can allow air to be sucked back in instead.

As for bleeding the Z06 calipers, you have pistons front and back with a fluid pass through channel that is lower than the bleaders instead.

So working from the back (farthest side away from the res tank), you start with the inner bleed valve to get the air out of those pistons, then you do the outside bleader to get the last of the air out of that side of pistons of the caliber. Over to the drivers side rear, then to the passenger side front, and then to the driver side front last.

As for if you don't have air in the lines, and just power flushing instead, then you can pull this off with just flushing to the outer side bleed valves instead (will would go back and double check for air bubbles in the inner side pistons once done).


As for back to my power bleeder, it really nothing more than a res tank cap that I have an air brush compressor connected to. The compressor is set to 15lbs, the res tanks is refilled of fluid after each cylinder bleed, and I just pressurize the res tank to 15lbs to push the fluid out of it, then out of the bleed valves as they are opened. There are some power bleed system that will push new fluid in with pressure instead so you don't have to keep refilling the res tank, but it is kind of a waste of fluid and mess to clean up the system up once you are done bleeding just one car alone.

Lastly, if you allow the brake system to run dry, you will need to cycle the ABS pump to get air out of it. This can be done with a jumper, or just a Tech II tool to cycle the pump without having to disconnect the ABS connector.

 

I always slap a bead of bearing grease around the bleeder threads to keep air from getting sucked in.

 

I'm 100% with Dano 523. A friend put the Speed Bleeders on a car he tracked several times a year - they worked OK for a little while, then wouldn't seal every time, then got worse. He finally took them off after about 4 bleed sessions....

Just bite the bullet and get either the Motive Products adapter or make your own set-up to allow you to pressurize the master cylinder and bleed that way. Just gravity bleeding will get you a long way - then using the pressure bleed system will get you done....

 

Dano, is there a way to tell if the steering wheel is straight using the steering wheel position indicator? The idea is during wheel alignments, it would be nice to be able to see exactly when the steering wheel is centered
.

 

Yes, it called a Tech II, and most shops should already have one if you don't already.

Some with frown on this, but you can get a clone Tech II for $400, with the needed clone software and gm card so you don't have to have a GM account to use it for most items.

Not only does it come in handy for checking the steering wheel sensor, but a ***** load more when it comes to working on the car as well (such as cycling the ABS pump during brake power flushing,and even programing items in and out of the car too).

If for some reason you need to update or reflash software in the car, then you can get a one day account from GM to pull the needed updated software file to re-flash something in the car (if you can not find the upload file elsewhere instead).
Note, with the new laptops having USB instead of RS232 serial ports, will need to pick up a usb to serial port cable to use Gm tis2000 software on your laptop to go through the Tech II to flash in upgrade software to the car. The tech II will come with a Serial cable to hook to the computer, and most new computers do not have this port instead.

Hence will need this cable if it does not come with your clone. And only is needed for reflashing the Tech II/one of cards through a USB port, or if you need to run GM TIS2000 software through the tech II instead on a computer that does not have a serial port.


If your need the usb to seria port driver, and cable
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV7Mo3FFEPI[url]


Also to note, GM is abandoning the Tech II, and using MDI's instead, so the clone has become more of a grey area isntead.

 

Your brakes "literally" make or Break your $67,000 car. I use the plastic bottle trick when I bleed or replace the fluid in my cars. I will not use them. yes that was a play on words.

 

I like Speedbleeders. The stuff that seals the threads does wear off after a while which is why the sell replacement stuff by the bottle.

What size Speedbleeder fits the Brembo calipers?

 

I gave up on the speed bleeders and went back to the factory bleed screws. After doing a gravity bleed the brakes are at about 90%. One more bleed session and we should be good to go. Nothing fell off and no leaks after the test drive so I started bedding the new pads.
The old brake fluid was almost black in color so I'm guessing it was ready for a change.

 

I bought a set of speed bleeders and it looked to me like they wouldn't thread in properly and I wasn't about to force them in. Triple checked the part numbers too. Consequently, the speed bleeders sit in their package (they wouldn't take them back) and I gravity bleed the brakes. It isn't hard to do, just let the fluid run until its clean on the outer bleed screws, starting from the rears first. I usually combine this with pad replacement.