Urgent : Bleeding brakes.

[bretttuk]

Hi all, in need of some dire help here... need a step by step guide on bleeding the brakes.

Today, have put on mk3 calipers on the rear with new discs and pads, new handbrake cables... all tightened up etc... and new braided hoses throughout , and new front discs and pads.

Need to bleed brakes, all i am getting is spongey pedal feel ..

What order do i do things in ? should handbrake be on ? .... how many pumps of pedal should it take before air comes out , fluid ? nothing seems to be happening !!!...

[...joe]

ages back there was a big assed arguement about the order to bleed them in. first off it will be harder to get a decent feel with braided hoses for some reason?! make sure the brake pressure regulator is clamped and then start with the rear passenger side, then rear drivers, then front passenger, then front drivers. you need either a one way valve attatched to the bleed nipple to stop air coming back in, pump the peddle till theres no air bubbles. or even better get a pressure bleeding kit (about £13 from halford i think) and open each valve in turn till the fluid runs clear.

[bretttuk]

I have a 1 way valve on, i am releasing the valve and pumping .... f all is coming out ,not even air ... i am pushing the brake pedal down and it is clicking or a sort of clicking half way down in travel.

Also, brake regulator thing i am supposed to clamp down, i can move the spring up and down with my hand, i think it maybe f'ed aswell.

Nothing coming out would suggest there is a blockage somewhere, but it is happening with both rear's ..

gonna buy a pressure kit tommorrow.

[92 rocks]

if youve put mk3 calipers on then youve got pipes on wrong way, theres a specific way of doing them dont think they follow the mk2 caliper route,,,,,,,,,,,,,maybe someone can shed more on it?

[kniterider]

the mk2 pipes fit directly into the mk3 calipers and follow the same route,

are you sure youve undone the bleed nipple enough??

[...joe]

oh i think you might have the calipers upside down. i seem to remember that if you orientate them so they look like how the mk2 ones fit, they are actually upside down so you have to swap them over to get them to work.

[bretttuk]

I am confused as to the "upside" down comment... the calipers only have 1 orientation they can do on , everything seems in order and lines up and is all good... i shall try with the changing of calipers though tommorrow morning . But i shall also pump the brake without the calipers on to see if it expels any audiable air at all...

1 main issue i am having is the brake "thing" nr the rear beam on the passenger side ... is there supposed to be any tension in the spring or does it just move quite freely as i do think it is bust.. it doesnt feel right anyway ... that is a concern of mine.

any ideas people

brett

[rubjonny]

The pressure regulator should be adjusted so that when all 4 wheels are on the ground with a normal load, the tension is just taken out of the spring.

[bretttuk]

All is sorted now, was having a bit of blonde moment as it is my 1st time doing this so a bit of a learning curve, wasnt checking brake fluid and it was bone dry. So bled the system 3 times of air so all that was coming through was fluid. All seems well, car is braking and handbrakes are now superb since we put new cables on.

One more concern, the brake pedal seems to push down a lot before engaging brakes, it doesnt really bite too much at the top of the pedal travel. Could this be anything in particular or is it just a characteristic of the golf . Once it does bits and i apply some pressure then it stops well. Just dont like it biting so low down.

Next week is replacing engine mount for a solid one ....

Brett

[rubjonny]

You may have damaged the master cylinder pumping the pedal whilst dry, it depends how far you pressed the pedal.  If you push it to far the seals get damaged!  See how it goes, if in a week or so the pedal goes spongy again, then budget for a new cylinder