Hey guys,
I am trying to decide if i should change/replace my own front calipers.
But i am worried of doing it myself since i have never done it before and don't
know how to bleed brakes.
Is it something i could screw up? Or no big deal?

I don't even know what direction to turn the bleeder screws to losen them?
Right=tight?
Left=Loose?
Is it the same for the brake hose?

Any detailed info and tips?

Thanks!

 

You seriously need to get a "mentor" to help you do this particular job if it's your first time...it's really scary thinking about this line of questioning...all the info is here, just use a search....

 

yeah it isnt hard.. but you do need 2 people to do it well..

 

one person can bleed brakes. all u need is a clear bottle, anything will do, and a piece of vac hose that will fit over the bleeder, i think it's like 3/16". i use a coke bottle with a hole in the plastic lid for the hose to pass thru. the hose needs to be long enough to reach the bleeder with the other end submersed in brake fluid. put the hose on the bleeder, then open it. while leaning out the car, press the brake pedal and watch til u no longer see bubbles. close the bleeder and proceed to the next wheel. since the lower end of the hose is submersed in fluid, it will not suck air when u let up on the pedal. i've never needed another person to help me bleed brakes.

 

it takes less time with 2 people if i were local, i'd lend a hand.

 

get someone who knows or pay a mechanic...you don't want to start learning blindly on such an important function of your car like braking!

 

I need my brakes about two weeks ago and I swear that they probably hadn't been done in about 10 years. A note on the bleeding process. Make sure you start in the passenger rear and then move to the passenger front brakes. There is no bleed screw on the driver's rear side. Then go on to the driver's front. You should always start the farthest away from the driver's seat since that line has the longest cable. I would highly recommend having someone else help you out since there are a few too many intangibles in the process .

 

Thanxs!
I wish there was someone local here to teach me how to do it. That's why i need
to start a local club.

Well, i took it to a mechanic to do it, but he has never seen one of this cars. He
might not even know how to start it.
But at Least he is trust worthy. He has worked on my other cars.

Am worried how someone that doesn't love this car will handle it. That's why i
wanted to do most of the work on it myself.

 

brake jobs are just like any other car. as long as he doesn't touch the engine, he'll be in familiar territory.

 

Guess what i went to pickup my car from the mechanic and now it wont stay
running.

I think he might have carbon locked it.

Just my luck....and he didn't even change the calipers because he says he couldn't
find the parts locally. Now that is the least of my problems.

 

Doesn't make sense: brakes have nothing to do with engine. And if carbon-locked it wouldn't run at all.

You can get those brake parts from rockauto.com, two day delivery.

B

 

go to rockauto.com print out the brake prices and take it to advanced auto or auto zone and they will match the price plus then you dont have to pay shipping..if you do what im doing just buy the loaded brakes which includes everything already put together all you do is put them on,, bleed system which really you only need to do the fronts if thats what you changing out..then drive.......

 

First to cover the original topic. how to bleed brakes?
Find someone that carries the speedy bleeders. They are a one way bleeder valve.
thats all you do is open up the valve you want to bleed and pump the brakes running a line into a glass jar. Stop pumping and close the valve, these bleeders allow the fluid to go out but do not allow air to enter. Do them in the proper sequence. Make sure you keep the master cylinder full at all times. It's as simple as that to blled or change the fluid.
Tip for all, brake fluid is supposed to be changed every 30k or 2 years. That is because the fluid is what we call"Hygroscopic", meaning that it will absorb water even in a closed system.
Things that most people do not do and are not even aware of are the following.
Make sure that you clean all the parts with brake cleaner first to remove the built up grease and brake dust.
Lubricate all the sliding components of the caliper with synthetic caliper grease. The reason for this is to ensure that the calipers move freely and do not bind up. the most common thing you will see when this is not done is that the inboard will be worn out but the outboard pad still has life. This is because the pad sits against the rotor and does not retract completeley when it is built up with grime and does not have lubrication on the caliper pins and slides.
If you buy new rotors clean them with warm soap and water, not brake clean. They have a coating of cosmoline to protect them from rusting before you buy them.
If you have them machined make sure you service the bearings and replace the inner seals when doing front brakes. If you do not machine them, at least get some 400 grit sandpaper and lightly sand them. Then you can use brake clean to remove the dust but do not dry them with anything but white paper towels. The blue towels have oil in them and shop rags are even worse.
The most overlooked procedure is bedding in your brakes or in other words seating them to the rotors.
The proper procedure is to take the vehicle out and apply light to medium pressure from approx 35mph to a stop about 10-15 times. AFter that the material has now bonded with the rotor and will not glaze causing that horrible noise in about 2-3 weeks or less.
Above all don't be cheap when buying brakes, you get what you pay for in this case.
I have repco metal masters all the way round on my se. I have approx 70k on them and still have pad on them. The reason being is i don't wait till the last minute to brake and i use my trans to slow me down.

 

Before any of the "knowledgeable" say he shouldn't use his engine to slow down the car, "that's so sixties", that kernel of wisdom is true for boinger engines. Slowing down with the engine is hell on valvespring life....