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Problems getting brakes blead after Brembo upgrade.

6K views 34 replies 9 participants last post by  Crownroyal79 
#1 ·
Hey all! I'm having a hard time getting all the air out of my brakes, and wondering if anyone has any suggestions? I'm using the fluid in a bottle with a hose on the bleeder method. Is it possible that doing it this way just doesn't get all the air out? Would I be better to find a helper and do it the usual way? I have the Tranzformer, and used that to cycle the ABS pump a few times, and it gets better, but not perfect. At this point, I have run 1.5 bottles of fluid through the system.

Thank you in advance for any help!

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#2 ·
There is an article in the knowledge base about gravity bleeding which works. Take a look at it.
One thing to note. People, including myself, expect a big difference with the Brembo upgrade. When I swapped Brembos on my V6, the difference wasn't that great around normal breaking, only when you really had to hammer them down did you notice a difference.
 
#3 ·
The Factory Service Manuals we have the luxury of downloading here at LX Forums spells out the proper procedure.
 
#6 ·
The brake bleeding process applies to all platforms, plus the majority of other process and procedures...

Factory Service Manuals
 
#7 ·
You can try the Motive Power Bleeder, after I used it once, I never looked back.

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#13 ·
Sorry to hear the trouble, just did my full upgrade and used less than a pint of fluid. Key when starting process is to lock brake pedal down(depressed) and do one caliper at a time and the system will not bleed dry, one of the worst things to happen.
 
#15 ·
If you're not pumping the brake pedal to expel fluid, why would you lock (depress) the brake pedal??
 
#17 ·
Well, I got the car to the point that I can drive it, but the brakes still aren't good. I have to pump them once to get them to grab properly, after that they seem to work quite well. Is it possible that I have air in my master cylinder, and if so, do I need to take it off the car to bleed it? Seems like I've done everything else correctly other than removing the mc and bench bleeding it. If I do need to take it off, would I benefit any from installing the SRT8 one?

Mods I've done in the last 2 weeks:

Swapped out complete rear cradle from an SRT8

Swapped out complete front suspension (minus front sway bar, didn't think about it til I was done with everything) including the rack and pinion from an SRT8

Swapped out brakes from an SRT8

All in all aside from the brake issue I'm having, it's like driving a completely different car!! I can't believe how much everything is tightened up compared to the old suspension/steering I love it!!!

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#19 · (Edited)
Well, I got the car to the point that I can drive it, but the brakes still aren't good. I have to pump them once to get them to grab properly, after that they seem to work quite well. Is it possible that I have air in my master cylinder, and if so, do I need to take it off the car to bleed it? Seems like I've done everything else correctly other than removing the mc and bench bleeding it. If I do need to take it off, would I benefit any from installing the SRT8 one?

Mods I've done in the last 2 weeks:

Swapped out complete rear cradle from an SRT8

Swapped out complete front suspension (minus front sway bar, didn't think about it til I was done with everything) including the rack and pinion from an SRT8

Swapped out brakes from an SRT8

All in all aside from the brake issue I'm having, it's like driving a completely different car!! I can't believe how much everything is tightened up compared to the old suspension/steering I love it!!!

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Air will very quickly make its way to the ABS block if one or more lines are left open and drain through gravity. You really need two people to do the job properly - more importantly quickly. The process of pumping up the pedal (3-4 strokes and hold) / open bleed valve / bleed into a container / close bleed valve should take no more than a few seconds. Repeat quickly until clear / new fluid it present. It takes very little time for a bubble to move back up the vertical portions of brake lines. You can't doddle at it.

Brake bleeder systems must be powerful enough to keep air moving downwards - away from the ABS block / module. Read completely the process outlined in the all the Service Manuals...
 
#18 ·
There shouldn't be any air in the master cylinder unless you let the level drop too far when bleeding the lines at the wheels. I would just keep bleeding until you get it. Might help to get a helper to pump the brake pedal between bleeds or use one of those vacuum pumps. I got a manual MityVac for Christmas and I'm anxious to try it out.
 
#22 ·
Finally got time to bleed the master cylinder yesterday, and there was a TON of air in it! I think I must've accidentally sucked air into it pumping the brakes with the cap off. There was one time when I completely spaced out what I was doing and I think I pumped the pedal too hard. After bleeding the master, I did the lines as described in the "quick and dirty" thread. Again, a TON of air came out of all 6 bleeders.

I still seem to have air in the lines, but they are way better than before. I still have to pump them once to get a good pedal. It seems like the front calipers lock up now when I'm coming to a rolling stop, I'm assuming this probably has to do with air still being in the lines? Didn't have time to run through them again, but will in the next couple days. I'll post up the results when I get it done.

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#26 ·
When I did the 6 piston swap on my 06 SRT I used a gravity fed bottle attached to the bleeder screw. What saved me was the tranzformer! I had air in the lines as I swapped all four calipers out. I was working alone but to clear the ABS pump and force any air though the lines I activated the line lock feature through the tranzformer. Worked like a charm.
 
#27 ·
Well, I followed the procedure exactly in the "Quick and dirty" gravity bleed thread today. I had a TON of air bleed out of all 6 bleeder valves, way more than the first time I did it! I let every one go until there was no bubbles coming out for probably a good minute. I did rap on the calipers with a mallet too.

After going through all that, I still have to pump the brakes once to get a firm pedal. It also is locking the front calipers when I pump the brakes. When I'm rolling slow in a parking lot and I press the brake pedal, I can hear the front pads slapping against the rotor. They don't actually lock the wheels up though unless the road is slippery. When stopping at an intersection that has a bunch of fine gravel on the road, they will lock fully and skid at low speeds, like 5 mph. Is it possible that my master is shot from running it for a week with air in it?

Could it be possible that I have a one way leak somewhere that's sucking air in, but not leaking fluid out? I cleaned all the hose connections last week, and all were still dry today.

The service manual recommends powering bleeding, maybe I will just pick one up and try that. Something just doesn't seem right though. When I blead the mc last week, I just left it mounted on the car and pumped the pedal to cycle the fluid, that should have been adequate, no?

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#28 · (Edited)
Well, I followed the procedure exactly in the "Quick and dirty" gravity bleed thread today. I had a TON of air bleed out of all 6 bleeder valves, way more than the first time I did it! I let every one go until there was no bubbles coming out for probably a good minute. I did rap on the calipers with a mallet too.

After going through all that, I still have to pump the brakes once to get a firm pedal. It also is locking the front calipers when I pump the brakes. When I'm rolling slow in a parking lot and I press the brake pedal, I can hear the front pads slapping against the rotor. They don't actually lock the wheels up though unless the road is slippery. When stopping at an intersection that has a bunch of fine gravel on the road, they will lock fully and skid at low speeds, like 5 mph. Is it possible that my master is shot from running it for a week with air in it?

Could it be possible that I have a one way leak somewhere that's sucking air in, but not leaking fluid out? I cleaned all the hose connections last week, and all were still dry today.

The service manual recommends powering bleeding, maybe I will just pick one up and try that. Something just doesn't seem right though. When I blead the mc last week, I just left it mounted on the car and pumped the pedal to cycle the fluid, that should have been adequate, no?

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Did you read the part in the Service Manual about the ABS module? Hence...why it is so important not to let the reservoir go dry. Cause air that has now been pushed downstream into the ABS module will not be purged until(!) you activate and cycle the module by-way of the OBDII port and a Diagnostic Tool. Only then can you properly / successfully bleed the base braking system.
 
#32 ·
I didn't end up using it, I just used the Tranzformer. I was doing everything correctly, there was just a TON of air in the system. I must've gotten air in the ABS block. I had to run 4 large bottles of fluid through it to get it all cleared out, so definitely do not get air in the ABS, lol!

I'm guessing that it would work just fine though, all you need is the ability to actuate the ABS pump.

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