Courtesy of BlackRider www.grandamgt.com
As Most of you probably know the Braking system on a vehicle is based on "Hydraulics" (Liquid does not compress) Now of course if you get Air in your brakes they will not work right.
How do I know if there is air in my Brake lines???
You will get a very spongy feeling on the brake peddle, remembering that liquid does not compress but air does. So when you are applying the brakes you are compressing the air in the lines.
Doing a "Dry Bleed" on our cars requires a pressure bleeder and OBD 2 Scanner.
If you don’t use an OBD 2 scanner you when you bleed the brakes you will be bleeding the positive side of the ABS System. The first time your ABS Valves open, guess what ??? More air. So you need a scanner to lock the ABS Valves open for the bleeding process.
Even changing the brake pads will require you to crack the bleeder screw, if done the right way. The reason you have to crack the bleeder screw is because, if you just push the piston back you are pushing the crud that is in the braking system back into the ABS valves. And this might cause an ABS Failure. This rarely happens but it is a possibility.
But to just get some air out of the calipers that might have got sucked in, you will first need 2 people. One to pump the brakes and one to open the bleeder screw. Start by first pumping the brake peddle about 10 time to build pressure, then open the bleeder screw, then once all the fluid/air has come out close the screw. Do not let up on the brake peddle before the screw has been close tightly or else you will suck in more air! The process should be continued until all the air is out and you get a steady stream of fluid coming out. If it is just a simple brake job, one to two times should do.
DONT DO'S!
As I said when DO NOT Let up on the brake peddle when the bleeder screw is open you will suck in a lot of air!
If you have high Miles/KM on you car and you have never opened the bleeder screw before be sure not to brake it off they tend to seas up after a wile.
If you are cracking the bleeder screw when the caliper is off DO NOT tip it upside down! Once again you will just suck in lots of air.
Vacuum Bleeders
If you only have yourself to bleed the brakes you could try a "Vacuum Bleeder” This tool will literally suck the air and fluid out of the lines. There is no pumping needed. The problem with these is that they tend to suck air from the outside around the threads on the bleeder screw. In my opinion they suck. But there may be better ones than I have use out there.
Hope this helps for all your Brake bleeding needs. It is a fairy simple process. Good luck
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