406oc.co.uk

hi all I was gonna bleed my rear brakes as my brakes work but with little feel & rather spongy . I took the rear wheels off & found the bleed nipples to be about a 6.5mm spanner fitting . has any1 had any fun with these as they look rather flimsy & easily broken

Hi briangoo,
I haven't looked at mine yet, but every car's brakes I have bled up to now have been 8mm. I can only think it must be corroeded bleed nipples, I would advise soaking in plus gas before trying to undo them, If they snap off you can use easyout's to get out the remaining bit of bleed nipple
Hope this is some help Paul.

I'm sure mine were indeed 8mm Maybe an imperial socket will fit now...

I would try a 7mm hexagon socket first, after soaking in wd40 as mentioned.

I have a 7mm spanner and a 7mm 3/8 drive hexagon socket for bleeding the 7mm ones.

I only tried 1 side but before I do anything I'm gonna have a look at the other side 1st. I tried a 7mm spanner wuich just span around & a 6mm was too tight I think a socket too loosen it off will be best

If there that bad I'd use some mole grip's to get them out, having soaked them first with penatrating fluid first & gently rock back n forth as you try to undo them, using more fluid each time until they come out. Just remember to buy some new ones first . Don't worry to much about the penatrating fluid contaminating your brake fluid or dirt ingress as you take out the old one's, as this will be delt with when you bleed the brakes

I will do thanks if the socket idea doesn't work. But I don't know if there's different size nipples on 406 as I'd like to buy them 1st & just replace them anyway

I'd buy new ones anyway too , give GSF or EURO CAR PARTS a go both have ebay shops with free p&p if there not close to you. If you need to now what you need go on to euro car parts web site, type in your car details & they should have the info you need.

briangoo wrote:hi all I was gonna bleed my rear brakes as my brakes work but with little feel & rather spongy . I took the rear wheels off & found the bleed nipples to be about a 6.5mm spanner fitting . has any1 had any fun with these as they look rather flimsy & easily broken

I think you ought to be looking at why your brakes might need bleeding, the only reason brakes should need bleeding is if air has entered the system, the big question is why would air have got in the system?

There is an old way of checking which brake has a problem if it actually has a problem....

Using a brake hose clamp or a pair of molegrips gently applied to each brake hose in turn....feel the brake pedal once the servo is empty, clamp off the brake hose and feel the brake pedal....if any of the clamped off brake hoses produces a more solid brake pedal then that brake is where the air problem may lay.

My money is on one or more sliders seized up or, as teamster suggested, seized up brake pads, front or rear.

I would check out each brake in turn for any pad seizures or slider seizures before looking at bleeding.

Tbh my trouble is I get very little time for maintenance. But I'm gonna start as you guys said check & clean each caliper & pads. The idea of bleading the brakes was its a 12 year old car so has the brake the brake fluid ever been changed I guess not. But also as already posted (in the electric section) my abs light is just about always on & the BRAKE FAULT light does come on now & again. But my new pp2000 is a pain to get up & running

You need to sort your ABS light as the car will fail it's mot with that light on, but as you say your stop light is on as well I think it could well be worth checking the multi socket connectors in the drivers side kick pannel as metioned elswhere in elec section. Just a quick point, your brake fluid should be changed 3-4 yearly max as it is hydroscopic & will absorb moisture which will in turn corrode your brake system from the inside .

But I agree with jasper5 that you need to make sure that your pads arnt sticking / caliper sliders, After all this is your brakes we are talking about here not making your car more Bling! If it moves make sure your brakes are tip top First!!! before doing any thing else, if not for your self for everyone else out there.

By the way the spongy pedal can be due to a shot servo.
If in doubt take it to a garage to have it checked out.

How would you check the servo as it looks ok

You need to check for pressure drop, if I remember correctly you pump the brake pedal three or four times with the engine running pushing it hard to the floor each time, on the fourth push hold it hard down then turn the engine off if the pedal drops significantly this could be your prob.
But to be honist it sounds more like your brakes are in need of a good service & a thorough bleed & if there is a prob with your servo it should be highlighted at you MOT,
or if in doubt ask your mot station to check it out for you.

Ok I've tried the pumping of the pedal test & its ok no drop in pressure. I've also today checked & cleaned each caliper which tbh were pretty ok but just cleaned them anyway, I also bled the front brakes but the rear 1's both have poor blead nipples so that's for another day. The brakes are better but not perfect. As for the waterproofing of the wiring in the drivers footwell I am a sufferer of the wet carpet syndrome so last week they got the clingfilm & good strong duck tape treatment but the faults will still be in the cars memory, so when I get this pp2000 going lol I will erase them & take it from there