i am having trouble bleeding my brakes and need some tips and i had a guy tell me to open the bleeder valve and pump the brake and after a while it would soon have a brake and was wondering if that would work

 

If you let off the brake lever with the bleeder valve still open, you are likely to draw air back into the system.

Generally, a person will pump the brake if necessary to get good pressure built up, and hold pressure on the brake while cracking open the bleeder valve to let some of the air out. A hose on the bleeder is helpful. As air and fluid escapes, the lever will move closer to the bar. Close the bleeder, and let up on the lever. Pump up pressure, and repeat until no air bubbles comes out of the bleeder and the brake is firm.

Personally, I prefer to use a vacuum bleeder. Mity-Vac makes a little hand pump that can be had with a vacuum gauge, and a variety of fittings, and a little catch tank. Essentially you attach the vacuum hose to the bleeder valve and pump up some vacuum while cracking open the bleeder valve. You need to be careful not to pump up too much vacuum or open the bleeder valve too far, as you can easily accidentially draw the master cylinder dry. They make an auto fill thing to keep the brake fluid topped off, but I find that with a little finesse you can avoid drawing out too much. I also usually put some teflon tape on the bleeder valve threads, so the vacuum will draw fluid out of the brake system instead of drawing air around the threads of the valve.

After a little experience with the mity-vac you would be able to get all the air out of any brake system quickly and easily, the first time...

 

^^ Good stuff

Those one man bleeding kits you get from any auto store work allright too, which they are basically a little plastic bottle with a tube in it.

If your bike a little old like mine then you don't want to just bleed it, but swap all the brake fluid, because it does wear out. When I bled my brakes last time all the fluid ran out brown, and I just kept bleeding it till it ran clear.

 

I had an old ATV one time that gave me a heck of a hard time bleeding the brakes, I bled and bled for over a 2 month peroid. I changed out master cylinders and everything. One day I decided to remove the spring that pulls the brake shoes back after you press them and Poof!! The brakes started working. I figured that the spring was no good and just could not flex like a new one and the master cylinder couldn't produce enough pressure to push out four old rusted springs.

 

so what you are saying jeffintd is that i should pump my brake hold it down and then open the bleeder or am i wrong

 

Yeah. Pump the lever until you get some pressure and continue to hold the brake while you (or an assistant) cracks the bleeder valve.

Continue to apply pressure as fluid and air come out of the bleeder and the brake lever moves closer to the bar. Close the bleeder when the brake lever gets close to the bar.

 

does it make any difference if i am just starting and have no brake at all. heres what i did i had to replace all the seals in my caliper and i drained the lines and i am not getting any brake what so ever.

 

With the whole system full of air, you probably aren't going to get them to pump up.

I'd pump the brake for a bit and hold it to the bar, break the bleeder open, then close it and repeat.

Be sure to keep the resivior topped up.

That's one of those situations where a vacuum bleeder really makes things easier.

 

get a power bleeder it will proly end up savin u 2 hrs

i spent 3hrs bleeding 1 side after breaking the line

 

Also make sure to use the correct dot brake fluid recommended for your bike which is either dot 3 or 4. Never use an open container of brake fluid as it is hygroscopic and does hold moisture.