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Unable to bleed clutch and rear brake

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Good day all,

  I am getting no where trying to bleed the clutch and rear brake, tried both with normal pumping of the levers but not getting any air or fluid to move. Also tried the reverse method on both and no matter how hard i push on the syringe I am getting no fluid in, I can feel the resistance and when I let off the pressure I get some old fluid pull out into the syringe.. Any tips before I have to resort to paying for it to be done.. I only did my zx6r last month and that was a dry system with no issues..

 

Please help haha Jamie 

Lots of tips on here with brake and clutch bleeding... 

why are you bleeding them?.. has anything  been changed on the systems?

  • Author
3 minutes ago, thall1 said:

Lots of tips on here with brake and clutch bleeding... 

why are you bleeding them?.. has anything  been changed on the systems?

I stripped the bike down to give it a full clean, so now rebuilt but the lines have no fluid in..  I'm more at a loss as why the reverse bleeding isn't pumping in the fluid..

 

Jamie 

  • Author
1 minute ago, cleanorbust said:

How much are you undoing the nipple?

I have cracked it open a little and then doubled on the amount open until the fluid leaks out the nipple..

Ah, that's not the problem then. I had trouble doing my back brake but found a really big syringe was the answer, as if the extra pressure was what was needed.

The levers have to be correctly adjusted with a little slack.

There's quite a bit of info on bleeding the back brake as it's not the easiest. Personally I find vacuum bleeding the easiest method.

Adjust the clutch lever with full travel and a mm or two of free play. Fill the reservoir and then remove the bleed nipple. Put plenty of rags around the hole and start to pump the lever slow and steady. Hopefully you’ll get fluid out eventually. Once you do put the nipple back in and bleed as normal.

  Clutch should come up fairly quickly. You can try vacuum bleeding using a syringe. If you can’t pull the syringe then the nipple needs to be opened a bit more. 

if you don’t get fluid out of the slave cylinder without the nipple fitted then either the hose is blocked, lever isn’t adjusted correctly or the seals have gone on the master cylinder. 
Bleed nipple, as all nipples will need to be opened half a turn at least... you may get a bit of leaking around the thread when it’s loose.. 

Rear brake will take time and patience. 
try the same sort of procedure...

remove the hydraulic line on the top of the master cylinder and push fluid back from the nipple until it flows out the line. Refit the line, fill the reservoir and crack open the banjo on top of the master cylinder in order to ‘bleed’ the master cylinder... just pump the rear brake lever slow and steady a few times to pump fluid out.. tighten the banjo and try bleeding as normal.

Good luck!

 

obviously push the pistons on the caliper all the way in,I removed the whole system (i did have to pull the resivoir off to get it out (refitted it) .Then I put the master cylinder in a clamp and using a syringe i  back bled it, the brake line has lots of curves in it and I just carefully kept moving it so the bubbles ouer a couple of hours would make their way to the M/C,I jabbed the plunger with a ohilips screwdriver to sort of "flick" the M/C piston,this flicks any air out into the res.took time but works,then I'd pump the pistons out,let any air make its way to the M/c then push them back in,forcing any air out .I tried to imagine the position where any air maybe trapped and adjusted the M/c in the vice to allow the air to move towards the exit.

I like pushing the pads and pistons fully back into the caliper. If you have worn pads use a wedge of card/soft wood to take up slack between pad and disc. Then bleed as normal. Sometimes if it won’t start, you may have crud in the nipple end. Hold lever pressure hard while you open the nipple, it should clear it...

My clutch wouldn't bleed but operated pretty well. It was because the port in the MC piston was blocked. I cleaned it out and it was perfect after that. 

 

If you cannot push fluid into the clutch MC then there is definitely a blockage somewhere. Obviously make sure there is free play in the lever etc. 

  • 3 years later...
On 5/12/2020 at 9:52 PM, cleanorbust said:

How much are you undoing the nipple?

For as Such as this is the Strengthen of your faith...did ye get yer  clutch sorted..im in that trial right now

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