Brake Bleeding! Which order

[GaryA]

Hi guys, first post!

Basically I've got an 8P and one of the rear flexi brake pipes burst and the car has dumped its brake fluid.

 

Ive replaced the pipe now, and I'm ready to bleed, I just have a few questions:

 

Does the front and back have to be bled?

does the clutch have to be bled?

and does it matter which Order I do the bleeding?

thanks

[Trevor]

Hi Gary...welcome to the Forum

I would work on the principle that the brakes on all four wheels will need bleeding.

The clutch should be okay if the fluid level was maintained enough...but if the pedal feels okay then no need to bleed it...although its good to refresh the fluid every so often.

I would keep the fluid topped regularly and using a vacuum bleeder, work around the vehicle in the following sequence.

• Front left caliper
• Front right caliper
• Rear left caliper
• Rear right caliper

I would recommend a vacuum brake bleeder kit (vacuum pump) to draw the fluid through as opposed to using pressure back up through the system....can lead to flipping the master cylinder seals.

Let us know how you get on with it

Cheers  Trevor

[GaryA]

Thanks Trevor, any recommendations for a bleeder?

[Trevor]

I use a Mityvac....bought a cheap one from eBay (had to fix it before using it but has been fine since).

By far the best way to bleed brakes in my opinion....and no pedal pumping involved.

[Magnet]

Hello Gary,

Apologies for sticking an oar in, but I must say, this would bother me a little, and I would ask myself why this hose burst in the first place. Has it by any chance scuffed on some part of the car, or perhaps suffered some other mechanical damage? If either, then the cause needs to be sorted to prevent the same situation again.

If neither, would I be happy in just changing just the one hose? Not really to be honest. 

Re. bleeding, I always work on the basis of bleeding the offending line first to expel the majority of air from the system, before continuing to bleed all lines in the normal rotation. 

Sorry to have a different opinion, but if the car has calipers all round then my rotation would be LR, RR, LF then RF. In other words  you bleed the lines in order of the greatest volume first. 

Not sure whether this is going to help or confuse! Whatever, good luck with it.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[Trevor]

I agree with you Magnet...my thoughts are if a rear hose is being replaced then chances are the majority of the brake fluid has disappeared and if refilling and bleeding a dual-circuit brake system, chances are that there is now air in the diagonal circuit. In principle, you are correct and it could involve chasing the air around the vehicle unless some sort of procedure is followed.

Your comment on the hose blowing out is bang-on and quite worrying why the hose has gone?  This is something that would concern me and also if one has gone because of age (perished) then I would replace them all to be on the safe side.

 

[GaryA]

Hi everyone, thanks for your input and sorry its taken me so long to reply! I have successfully bled the brakes using the old conventional method of some clear tubing and a glass jar or fluid. I also changed both rear flexi pipes, however thanks for the concern (Once had split and the other wasnt far behind)

Much appreciated all