Brake bleeding

No posts for four weeks then two in two days... cue some random bus joke...

So just to feel a bit more positive after the paint fiasco, I thought I'd have a go at brake bleeding. As I mentioned yesterday, brake bleeding an entirely empty system is several degrees harder than just changing fluid, mainly because the idea of pumping the pedal to build up pressure and then opening the bleed valve doesn't do much when the 'pressure' is all air instead of fluid. I managed to dig out my Gunsons Eezibleed but of course the cap was nothing like anything I had. A quick check online showed the universal cap was still available, but £25! Given that it was just a plastic plate I thought it ideal for a 3D print, so I did that. 

The newly printed cap wasn't 100%, and there were still air leaks, but I remember that with the real caps as well. It's usually to do with the pressure being too high but even with the leaks I was able to provide some pressure to the fluid. First sign of it working was the front right, with a few drips coming out of the bleed valve. Tightening that up then showed the front left doing the same. 

Unfortunately that's as far as I could get, because while the front ones were accessible without having to take the wheels off, the rears aren't. Having said that, I have the tunnel cover off at the moment, and I can hear gurgling at the T joint between the two rear calipers. I take that as a good sign, while gurgling suggests there's air still in there it also means some fluid has managed to reach that position. So next job will be to raise the rear of the car, remove the wheels and open the bleed valves. Then repeat the process.

Once I have fluid to all four wheels I can then start refining things, or more specifically looking for leaks. I do already have one weeping joint that I need to resolve. On the master cylinder there is an adaptor thing that connects one of the brake lines to a banjo joint. That seems to be leaking ever so slowly. It looks to be a fairly small part so I could replace it, however a bit of Googling suggests I'm missing copper washers either side. I'm not sure why I'm missing them as I didn't take that apart at any point, but then if it hadn't been apart I also wouldn't expect it to start leaking now. So first job will be to add a couple of washers to see if it resolves the issue. Touch wood there aren't any other leaks, so it looks like my flaring technique is up to scratch! No doubt once the pressure gets up I'll find some more but that's another day. 

As with all jobs, getting started on one has highlighted a couple more. First issue is that I've forgotten to put 'anti slip provision' on the pedals. IE rubber covers. Some builders have used sandpaper as an anti slip surface, given the pedals are flat that may be an option but surely that must wear out over time. Then again, rubber also wears out, over a much longer time of course. Unfortunately when I got the car it had some horrible metal ones that are meant to look nice but would never pass IVA. To be honest I didn't like them at all, I still have them but I really ought to just throw them away!