Build 63. Brake/Clutch Bleed
I'm now feeling like I'm near the end, and I have to really fill up the fluids in the system. I've been putting this off as as it is messy and never works first time! I decided that I'd purchase the Sealey Bleeding system (and the bottle to go with it). To be honest these made the job infinitely easier than the two person method I'd used in the past.
The system was unable to keep pressure at all once I took it out of the box. In the end I unscrewed all the parts and put PTFE tape around all the threads to keep the bottle pressurised. The actual pressure gauge required about 20-30 wraps of the thread to get it to seal. Check this before putting fluid in the bottle!!
So on with the brakes. As per the bleeding bottle instructions, I first pressurised the system using air (I think it was to about 15Psi) and left it a few hours. When I came back, to my surprise, the air was all still in the system.
So with this initial test completed, I covered all the areas I would be going near with cardboard/bubble wrap etc and I emptied the brake fluid into the Sealey cylinder ready to bleed the system. Brake fluid will corrode paint work so if you spill it, wipe it off immediately!
The general process is to then offer the bit which connects to the fluid reservoir up to it and just pump a bit of fluid through the lines to get rid of the air in the pipes, then once it is coming out the pipe at the end, secure this onto the reservoir. Make sure the bleed nipples are all shut and then pressurise to about 15psi.
Then goto the rear left caliper nipple and connect the catch bottle to it, and then open it until fluid runs through the pipe with no air bubbles. Close the nipple, then move to the next caliper. Between each nipple, ensure the main Sealey bottle has enough pressure to maintain the fluid!
The order to bleed it is.
I then repeated this again to ensure now bubbles were in the system. I found that my front right caliper join was "weeping" ever so slightly when testing with blue roll (the part where the copper meets the caliper). I'm going to get the PBC to check this.
Once I'd done it a few times, I came back and repeated it once I'd attached the handbrake. As wiggling this when bleeding the rear brakes, removed even more air!
I used the same method to do the clutch, which was much easier as it was one single nipple on top of the gearbox. A small 8mm spanner helper to open and close the valve.
Timelapse
