Is there a preferred sequence for bleeding brakes on a 90 Loyale?

Do you stomp the pedal hard for each wheel till it hits the floor?

1. remove any residual vaxuum from the brake booster by pushing the brake down several times with engine off.

2. remove master cylinder reservoir cover and fill with brake fluid.. reinstall cover.. check fluid often while bleeding to prevent fluid from getting too low and allowing air bubbles into master cylinder.

3. have someone there to help, as well as a supply of new brake fluid, empty plastic container, rubber or vinyl tubing to fit over bleeder valve and a wrench to open and close bleeder valve.

4. beginning at right rear wheel, loosen bleeder screw slightly, then tighten it to a point where its snug but can still be loosened easily.

5. place one end of the tubing over bleeder screw fitting and submerge the other end in brake fluid in the container.

6. have assistant push down on the brake and hold pedal firmly depressed.

7. while pedal is depressed, open the bleeder screw just enough to allow a flow of fluid to leave the valve. watch for air bubbles to exit the submerged end of the tube. when the fluid flow slows after a couple of seconds, tighten the screw and have assistant release brake pedal.

8. repeat steps 6 and 7 until no more air is seen leaving the tube, then tighten bleeder screw and proceed to left rear wheel, and the right front wheel in that order and perform same procedure. be sure to check fluid in master cylinder regularly.

9. dont use old brake fluid.

10. refill master cylinder after you've finished..

11. check operation of brakes. pedal should feel solid when depressed.

...on any car, the principle is that you go from longest brake line to shortest. So if your master cylinder is on the driver-side (left-hand drive) firewall, you do right rear, left rear, right front, and lastly left front.

 

The bleeder screw has a hose you just attached to it, going into a bottle of brake fluid. This is how you keep air out of the bleeding process. Make sure the bottle can't tip over. A clear hose is best, as then you can tell when the old brake fluid is gone and only new fluid is in there.

 

You will be under the car, loosening and tightening the bleeder screw as needed. You friend should pump the pedal about 5 times while you have the bleeder screw loose, holding the pedal down on the last pump. You then tighten the screw. He/she tops off the master cylinder. Repeat until you see only clear fluid AND friend tells you the pedal effort has increased a lot. Then go to next brake.

 

Edit:

Dang, Blue Train, you posted while I was writing mine!

lol..and now ive got a wicked case of carpal tunnel afta typin it all out..

I must disagree with Tom 63050.

Never pump the pedal while the bleeder valve is open, you just suck in air or old fluid and defeat the purpose.

I also never pump the pedal. Always use slow strokes up and down to avoid small bubbles in the fluid.

I highly recommend the cheap little one-man bottle bleeders, they work great.

I also think that Subarus should be bled in a cross pattern, but it's not critical.

Keep in mind if you replace the pads, the reservor will be low untill the pistons are screwed back out, then the reservor will fill back up. If you add fluid and screw the pistons back out, you'll have a mess.

Ed, I know what you're saying. Frankly I had that same question myself, but it works anyway. When I flushed my MR2's clutch hydraulics to put in new brake fluid, I did it as I described & it worked fine. But yeah, it seems you would suck in air on the pedal's upstroke; but that's the point of holding it down on the last pump, so the guy underneath (me) can tighten the screw, and the other pumps don't matter. What little air you suck in is expelled on that last pump, I guess.

 

Of course, slow pumping. Shoulda specified that.

make sure the parking brake is released when bleeing teh front calipers

DO NOT push the brake pedal all the way! You will damage the internal seals in the master cylinder!!

 

This is is why I prefer the "one man" system, with a valve in the hose going into the bottle. I can push the brake pedal myself!

a little retarted sidenote...the extra slack in your front windshield washer tubing makes a great brake bleeder hose...just gotta cut a nice little section off the end and recconect to a male piece...yay:headbang:

... windshield washer hose?? I'll bet the residual brake fluid makes a helluva cleaner on the car after it's reconnected

. As always the advice is much appreciated and you should all feel safer driving out there knowing I have brakes again!

no, you don't reconnect the hose, you pull the hose off one of the male pieces, and cut a nice length off of it, and reconnect it..there's plenty of slack to do this.

 

good to hear ya got yer brakes workin.. i hear they come in useful sometimes.. cheers..