Posted on 01/31/2012 9:47:56 PM PST by djf
I have a mid-80's Blazer with disc brakes on the front, one is hopelessly seized and took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to get off... so new calipers on both sides is in the planning stage, but I am wondering. I will be able to almost fill the calipers w/brake fluid before I attach the main brake lines, or I can mount them empty, open the bleeder valve, and fill them from the top.
Which is best? Why?
What kind of break?"
Look what you get around here for trying to help a guy out
In my defense, I helped a neighbor out earlier and he paid for my time with some beer so excuse me if I don't type so good.
smart ass :)
Chinese or Mexican?
I took a survey of the room and only 100% agreed with you. ;)
/johnny
This is the way.
After 20 years of doing this type of work for a living with only enough come-backs to count on one hand with fingers left over. Do the rest of your planned repairs. Install new calipers, using silicone brake lube or CFC dielectric grease on any metal to metal contact between caliper and caliper bracket and between caliper pistons and caliper on outboard side, to greatly reduce chances of squeals. Do NOT apply to any friction surface! I.e. pad friction material and rotor braking surface. Open one bleeder at a time and allow fluid to run out bleeder until clear. Repeat for other side. The reason you want to replace the fluid (which is completely water soluble, unless using high end silicone brake fluid. DOT 3 Fluid is easily washed away with water.) Is because it contains a dessicant in which it absorbs water, but only so much. One it becomes saturated, water will pool in the lowest areas. This causes calipers to seize due to rust. It also lowers DOT 3 brake fluid from around 400 degrees to about 212 degrees. Once this is complete, your brake woes should be addressed, repeat fluid flush for rear system as well. If doing all 4 corners begin with right rear wheel, then to left rear. Move to front right and finally front left. This will replace all the brake fluid and purge most if not all air. It may be necessary to have an assistant depress the brake pedal if it dosent want to gravity bleed. One last point, avoid depressing brake pedal to floor when using the assistant method. Reason being, if you have enough corrosion in your calipers to seize them, you likely have enough corrosion in your master cylinder to tear the cups that produce pressure. This was learned the hard way! Lack of maintenance on brakes can get expensive really quick! Annual brake fluid flushes can greatly reduce this cost. Sorry for the length of the post, but not really any way to get the info across in cliff notes format!
Bean meaning to tell you, I am a pretty good scientist, but I am a lousy cook.
Dad and I had an 1/2 hour discussion last week about how to boil an egg. We left it for my wife to do.
Thanks for the laugh Johnny!
” and you can use the money saved to buy some beer :)”
Be sure to drink the beer before installing the calipers. It will go smoother that way.
Sorry for lack of format, tough to do on phone!
You have to poke a hole in an egg before you hard-boil it.
Keeps them from exploding and gunking everything up.
Aren’t they all?
In 1964, that meant pulling a vacuum line from a neighbor's car, putting some brake fluid in a baby food jar, connecting the tubing to the brake bleed valve with the other end under the level of the brake fluid in the baby-food jar, and when the bubbles stopped coming out, the air was out. Close the valve, and send your brother on a test drive.
Have they improved that procedure? Or just buffed up the advertising?
/johnny
Errr, yeah. Do that with your calipers, too.
I was assuming that was universally understood :)
The half-axles are gonna be a bigger job than the brakes, but might as well do the whole dam mess at the same time!
Unless you can scrounge up a still decent one from a salvage yard, but there just aren’t many left around...
You are a smart ass. Now I don’t feel so alone. :)
Made in the USA, reman in Mexico.
Such is it.
Hate to pour cold water your plan, but if you have to ask how to bleed brakes, you would be better off by a country mile to have a shop do this. Brakes are not a place to learn to be an auto mechanic.
I wasn’t asking how to bleed them. I’ve done that before.
But thats a lot simpler operation than installing new brakes.
And axles.
I’m just asking about minimizing the amount of work... SAFELY minimizing it.
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