ive had problems with my brakes for some time now and today decided to have another go at bleeding them to see if cud get it better.

Its the front brake thats the problem i managed to bleed the back brake and seems to be ok, not perfect but satisfactory.

well ive spent hours trying to bleed the front one now and i am convinced there is no air left to come out as no air is coming from the nipple into the pipe i connected and i have done this for some time just to continue having brake fluid pumped out. when i operate the brake lever it is just floppy and no resistance at all.

ive tried pumping it for a few minutes to see if this stiffens it up and still nothing. ive read other posts on the forum but cant seem to find a solution to this problem

any help would be great. thanks

Hi Braddon,

I think it's still got air in it! I know it seems impossible as you are getting good fluid out, but I'll bet that's the issue.

When I did mine, I had a tube from the nipple into a catch tank and I could see how the fluid reacted when I forced fluid through. If there was any air at the highest point of this tube, it would move forward when I released the bleed nipple, but return back to the high point when the lever reached it's stop and I closed the nipple. What you need to do is make sure the system is 'hung' so the bleed nipple is the highest point and gently tap it to pursuade the air to rise. Then when you bleed, try to avoid any high points. You can't avoid all high points, particularly when bleeding the rear, so you need to get a rhythm going with your pumping and releasing that is quite fast. Don't get frantic at it or you'll cause the fluid to froth and be back to square one!

If you are really patient and keep tapping the system you may suddenly see a few more bubbles. It may be that at the moment the fluid is not displacing the air.

If the air is trapped in the master cylinder, you'll never get there! Make sure there is a bit of free play in the lever adjuster or the fill hole will not open and you'll never get a full fill.

Good Luck

Graham

thanks but im not too sure what you mean when you say about hanging it.

do i need to disconnect the caliper from the forks and put it higher then the master cylinder and then bleed it and tap it??

im not the cleverest of people and find it hard to understand instructions! sorry!.

Thanks again

Yes, exactly that! Take the caliper off and get it above the master cylinder. That way the trapped air will rise. You also want to keep turning it so any air works it's way to the bleed nipple.

Graham

give this a view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcQq4U5ALyk

i bled mine using the syringe and tube method from the bleed nipple up to the master cylinder the theory being that the air is helped on its way to the top.

it worked quite easily for me and i`m not a whizz on the spanering front.

Go to a farming supplies place for a syringe (lamb feeder), a nd some tubing.

Real easy that way. May need to superglue the tube to the syringe.

i have got the brakes working and was riding it today and the brake seems to be locking on slightly.

so basically the brakes working but not coming off again. its not locked on solid so the wheel will not move but you can tell its binding slightly as the wheel will not spin freely when raised off the ground, but will with some force.

any suggestions as to what will cure this?

i took the caliper apart before i bled it took out the pistons and they did not appear stuck.