Overhauled the rear brakes.

[steve_earwig]

Worked fine on both my 406s, did you remember to let some of the pressure out? The pressure it works on is on the bottle IIRC.

Steve - not sure if you know this one but don't key the ignition with the brake hydraulics open, it could draw in air. Or let air go through it, if the air gets into the ABS block you'll need PP to get it out again

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Worked fine on both my 406s, did you remember to let some of the pressure out? The pressure it works on is on the bottle IIRC.

Steve - not sure if you know this one but don't key the ignition with the brake hydraulics open, it could draw in air. Or let air go through it, if the air gets into the ABS block you'll need PP to get it out again

Steve if you have had experiance of the Gunson easyblead working fine on 406's then thats , just wanted to advise steve to be carefull
As I said I have a vacuum bleader these day's & is my prefered choice of brake bleading kit, not cheep but worth it

[D4B]

Many thanks for all the advice, I have bled plenty of brakes on classic cars and vans but nothing this new..... and I wasn't aware of the situation
with the ABS, so thanks for the heads up....... I will let you know how I get on. Steve

[jasper5]

If you fit a brake hose clamp to the flexible hose before the caliper you will only need to bleed the one brake.
If you haven't got a special clamp carefully fitting mole grips will do the job.

To bleed that one brake afterwards simply fit a pipe to the bleed screw and pump the brake several times and leave it for a few seconds with the bleed screw open for fluid to drip out then tighten bleed screw and job done.....you will only have air in the caliper so nothing much to remove, especially if you push the piston all the way back.

[D4B]

Found a couple of hours today to have a crack at the other rear brake. This is what I found:





Then while trying to salvage the brake pad fitting kit, one of those little R clips sheared off in the pin, so I had to put it all back together (that pad pin wasn't going anywhere!)
so I could go and buy a fitting kit (should have bought that in the first place)





Any way after a battle with the handbrake shoe springs, and a bit of a clean up and some red oxide paint (didn't have any black) all back together & works a treat.
The good news is that on this caliper the sliders were already moving freely.....





Next job is to revisit the NSR brake to free up that stuck slider.

Cheers Steve

[Rolebama]

A couple of things I have read on this thread. With regard to standing on the towbar, this will affect the progressive load setting valve, allowing more effort to the rear brakes. (As weight is transferred to the front under braking, the rears become prone to over-braking, and the valve will reduce rear braking to counter 'skidding' etc.)
I would not advocate the standard 'pumping the pedal' technique for bleeding brakes nowadays. The pistons in master cylinders don't travel very far under normal use, so the area in front of the piston tends to corrode enough that when the piston is pushed forward into the corroded area, they tend to stick there.

[jasper5]

A couple of things I have read on this thread. With regard to standing on the towbar, this will affect the progressive load setting valve, allowing more effort to the rear brakes. (As weight is transferred to the front under braking, the rears become prone to over-braking, and the valve will reduce rear braking to counter 'skidding' etc.)
I would not advocate the standard 'pumping the pedal' technique for bleeding brakes nowadays. The pistons in master cylinders don't travel very far under normal use, so the area in front of the piston tends to corrode enough that when the piston is pushed forward into the corroded area, they tend to stick there.

The only reason the person was standing on the tow bar was to increase the reading on the brake testing machine.

Never in my 44 years of repairing motor vehicles have I heard of or experienced what you wrote about the pistons in the master cylinder

I've never seen corrosion inside the master cylinder!

I've been bleeding brakes in this way ever since I started as an apprentice 44 years ago without any issue at all.

It isn't necessary to bleed the brakes with a vacuum system when you have only removed one caliper because if you clamp off the flexible rubber hose there can only be air in the caliper itself...to bleed the caliper afterwards requires just a couple of pumps to remove the tiny amount of air in the caliper.I've done this so many times over the years, I couldn't possibly tell you how many.

[D4B]

Yes for those of us who don't have the luxury of pressurized bleeding equipment pumping the pedal gets the job done.... I have never had a problem
with this method, but then I haven't attempted the 406 brake bleeding..... yet

With regards to never seeing corrosion inside a brake master cylinder, look what I found in my 1977 Honda, not really corrosion more like congealed
brake fluid! Luckily I had a new one ready:

[dirtydirtydiesel]

My vacuum pump was less than £50 & was bought many years ago for difficult to blead bike brakes, after fitting braded brake lines .
It's come in realy usefull over the years & makes flushing the fluid in the braking system quick & easy .
I wasn't saying you needed one, just a usefull thing to have & I'd be mad not to use it if I've got it.
Yes jasper, I allways clamp the hose so I only have to blead the caliper in question. I've stated above why I like the vacuum bleader method

[Rolebama]

Jasper, I will not argue with what you say about non-corroded master cylinders. I will only say that brake fluid is hygroscopic, (I think that is the right word), and I have changed master cylinders because of internal corrosion on what must be the hundreds over the years I worked in workshops because of internal corrosion. I have usually found that owners have tried to bleed their own brakes by the pump the pedal method and had the pistons jam on the internal corrosion. As far as I am aware, hygroscopy is part of the reason most manufacturers recommend changing brake fluid every two years.

[Welly]

My vacuum pump was less than £50 & was bought many years ago for difficult to blead bike brakes, after fitting braded brake lines

That's reminded me of a few years ago; my colleague kept his Aprilla RSV in the office and fitted braided lines.....asked if I could give him a hand bleeding the brakes........about an hour later all we were left with was an empty brake fluid container.....no brakes....and two confused gentlemen.

Bike had to go to a specialist

[KozmoNaut]

Must have been a very odd bike indeed.

I used less than 125ml in total back when I upgrade to braided brake lines on my Bandit 600, using nothing but the good old "pump the brake" method, a spanner, a bit of rubber hose and a jam jar.

[gumby6371]

If I get chance I might give the brakes a refurb prior to the MoT but as I have braided hoses whats the best way to minimise fluid loss with the calipers off?

I'm comfortable bleeding brakes using the top up reservoir pump the pedal and drain at the bleed nipple method but I've never completely drained the system and refilled from empty so I'd like to stick to what I know as far as possible.

[jasper5]

If I get chance I might give the brakes a refurb prior to the MoT but as I have braided hoses whats the best way to minimise fluid loss with the calipers off?

I'm comfortable bleeding brakes using the top up reservoir pump the pedal and drain at the bleed nipple method but I've never completely drained the system and refilled from empty so I'd like to stick to what I know as far as possible.

Use a piece of rubber pipe blocked off at one end and fit it over the end of the metal pipe when it's removed from the caliper itself.

[gumby6371]

Thanks Jasper, will do.