Parts Catalog Accessories Catalog How To Articles Tech Forums
Call Pelican Parts at 888-280-7799
Shopping Cart Cart | Project List | Order Status | Help



Go Back   PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum > Mercedes-Benz Tech Information and Support > Diesel Discussion

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-03-2007, 12:36 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 15
Red face Brake Bleeding

Iam attempting to bleed my brakes with an autozone purchased bleeder and manual; however, I cannot quite comprehend the manual. I need some very detailed expertise advice. I have found the master cyclinder, attached my bleeder to the valves compressed the brake loosened the connecter nuts, released the brake and re-tightened the nuts. Now the brakes seem to be worse. I have found great sucess in all my ventures by following the diesel giant site but am at a cross roads here. Any advice is, as always, greatly appreciated

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 03-03-2007, 01:01 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Reno/Sparks, NV
Posts: 3,063
Do yourself a favor and get a power bleeder like this one:



You won't have to press the brake pedal or worry about air getting sucked into the brake system. You just fill the reservoir with brake fluid, pump up the pressure, and then loosen each bleed valve for a while. I believe what you have is a vacuum bleeder and those do an unpredictable job on the brakes as air may be sucked into the system around the bleed valve threads. Save that kind of tool for locating vacuum leaks.
Attached Thumbnails
Brake Bleeding-installation.jpg  
__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Last edited by whunter; 08-09-2011 at 12:20 PM. Reason: attached picture
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-03-2007, 07:46 AM
Ramblin's Avatar
Part Time Hack
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ware Massachusetts
Posts: 358
Power or pressure type bleeders are indeed superior. It makes one man bleeding a pleasure...
__________________
83 300CDTurbo 307,000
2005 Honda Element 266,000
56 Nash Ambassador Country Club Special 34,000(under restoration presently)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/car-audio-multimedia/125099-123-install-extreme-dynamat.html
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 03-03-2007, 08:29 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 554
type of car?

i will tell u how i bleed my brakes,115,123,124,126 cars,fill the master cyl,go to the farthest wheel,open the bleeder valve,just let the fluid run till you get the nice color of the new fluid.turn off bleeder valve,move to next closest wheel to the master cylinder,repeat process and move on.just keep an eye on the fluid level and not let it get low in the master cylinder.
process never fails to work if you got good brake parts.
larry perkins
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 03-03-2007, 08:40 AM
rino's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Southern California
Posts: 553
Quote:
Originally Posted by larry perkins View Post
i will tell u how i bleed my brakes,115,123,124,126 cars,fill the master cyl,go to the farthest wheel,open the bleeder valve,just let the fluid run till you get the nice color of the new fluid.turn off bleeder valve,move to next closest wheel to the master cylinder,repeat process and move on.just keep an eye on the fluid level and not let it get low in the master cylinder.
process never fails to work if you got good brake parts.
larry perkins
That's exactly the method I am going to use either tonight or tomorrow on the brakes on my 123-chassis '79 240D... One question, Larry, approximately, in your experience, how long does it take for the new fluid to travel, say, from the master cyl to the farthest wheel? I heard the process is slow, I'd just like to know in advance HOW slow...

Rino
__________________
1979 240D, W123, 105K miles, stick, white w/ tan interior.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-03-2007, 09:03 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 554
estimate

never really timed it,but i would say 30 minutes if you let the fluid get real clean.its a good time to stop and smell the roses,lol.
one thing to keep in mind, lets say you got a wheel that runs slow or wont run at all,then most likely you have a bad rubber brake line,so its sorta a country way of troubleshooting the lines. you use a presure system then you might miss a potential problem coming at you.
time it and let us know.
larry perkins
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-03-2007, 09:14 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 554
fluid

i did my research and decided on wagner 5.1 fluid,pay 9.99 per qt and try to flush all cars on a 2 year schedule. in my opinion if you dont keep the fluid fresh you will be changing brake parts.
i suppose one could rebottle the old fluid and sell it on ebay to folks that think it last forever,lol
larry perkins
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-03-2007, 09:59 AM
rino's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Southern California
Posts: 553
Quote:
Originally Posted by larry perkins View Post
never really timed it,but i would say 30 minutes if you let the fluid get real clean.its a good time to stop and smell the roses,lol.
one thing to keep in mind, lets say you got a wheel that runs slow or wont run at all,then most likely you have a bad rubber brake line,so its sorta a country way of troubleshooting the lines. you use a presure system then you might miss a potential problem coming at you.
time it and let us know.
larry perkins
That's a good point (changing the fluid that way, slowly, so as to establish whether there is any problem with the lines). I'll time it, and post results here...

By the way, I need to do a whole fluid change (it is due... I've owned the car for two years, and I have no idea when it was done last)... I have one last question: is it better to do it through the bleeder valves or to go ahead and disconnect the calipers and let the fluid flow out that way? My concern is: if you use the bleeder valves and do not disconnect the caliper from the hose line, how do you get the old fluid with impurities from the caliper itself?

Rino
__________________
1979 240D, W123, 105K miles, stick, white w/ tan interior.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 03-03-2007, 10:48 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 554
am a bit lazy

well i use the bleeded valve,my theory is to flush often and be satisfied with less than 100%,my wife has been doing that for years,lol
another thing i do is pump the brake pedal enough to run the vacuum low a few times and i figure that mixes the liquid pretty good prior to starting the flush.
larry perkins
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 03-03-2007, 11:02 AM
rino's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Southern California
Posts: 553
Quote:
Originally Posted by larry perkins View Post
well i use the bleeded valve,my theory is to flush often and be satisfied with less than 100%,my wife has been doing that for years,lol
another thing i do is pump the brake pedal enough to run the vacuum low a few times and i figure that mixes the liquid pretty good prior to starting the flush.
larry perkins
I am 99% with you regarding being satisfied with less than 100% , but in this particular case the calipers installed are apparently the original (28 years old...), there's a possibility that the brakes have been misbehaving due to old, contaminated fluid, and I don't have 300 bucks to throw on new calipers, so that's why I asked...

Rino
__________________
1979 240D, W123, 105K miles, stick, white w/ tan interior.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 03-03-2007, 11:23 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 554
rino

if i were you and not able to get rebuilt calipers, i would remove the caliper from the wheel,leave the brake hose connected,clamp the side that does move when applying the brake pressure,apply brake pressure to see if the stuck side will move out,if it moves i would pull it back with a clamp,repeat process with adding a lube like pb blaster,wd40.
ok now dont be like the fellow on tv who turns right,runs into the building,didnt wait to listen that the turn would be in 50 feet.
to me your worst case would be that you could cause a leak in the stuck side.your gamble
what i see most times is the stuck side is stuck out against the crud that enters thru a bad rubber seal on the caliper,so the inside area of the piston may be clean enough to allow the thing to release if you had new pads and get another working area for the piston to operate in.
by the way you should be able to find rebuilts for about 150 bucks,not 300.00
larry perkins
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 03-03-2007, 01:33 PM
rino's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Southern California
Posts: 553
Quote:
Originally Posted by larry perkins View Post
if i were you and not able to get rebuilt calipers, i would remove the caliper from the wheel,leave the brake hose connected,clamp the side that does move when applying the brake pressure,apply brake pressure to see if the stuck side will move out,if it moves i would pull it back with a clamp,repeat process with adding a lube like pb blaster,wd40.
ok now dont be like the fellow on tv who turns right,runs into the building,didnt wait to listen that the turn would be in 50 feet.
to me your worst case would be that you could cause a leak in the stuck side.your gamble
what i see most times is the stuck side is stuck out against the crud that enters thru a bad rubber seal on the caliper,so the inside area of the piston may be clean enough to allow the thing to release if you had new pads and get another working area for the piston to operate in.
by the way you should be able to find rebuilts for about 150 bucks,not 300.00
larry perkins

Larry, I totally appreciate your sharing your knowledge of the matter here and your suggestions, and what you pointed at is exactly what I wanted to achieve in the first place but didn't know how... and I am going to follow your advice to the letter... THANKS!!!
I was able to locate rebuilts at about $60 each, complete with pads, pins and springs - they are NuGeon-QBRs (OE Rebuilts) - but someone had suggested that I should get only new items, either ATE or Bendix, and that's what they charge for them... So I assume that if you were in my shoes and the procedure described above failed, you would go for the $60 rebuilts, correct?

Thanks again,
Rino
__________________
1979 240D, W123, 105K miles, stick, white w/ tan interior.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 03-03-2007, 03:17 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: SoCal
Posts: 661
Quote:
Originally Posted by rino View Post
they are NuGeon-QBRs (OE Rebuilts) - but someone had suggested that I should get only new items, either ATE or Bendix, and that's what they charge for them... So I assume that if you were in my shoes and the procedure described above failed, you would go for the $60 rebuilts, correct?

Thanks again,
Rino
Where did you find the NuGeon Rebuilts? Been looking for a long time. If the procedure failed, you would probabaly have enough time to save money for new calipers because it will be awhile before you find out. Rear brake pads last for a long time.
__________________
'85 300D Cal 280,000 miles
'14 GLK 350 60000 miles
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 03-03-2007, 07:07 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 554
rino

yep,been there done the econo route. i would not have a problem using the rebuilts,matter of fact you have a source thats less cost than a/c brake of louisville does for me,so post the source if you can.
on the attempt to loosen the ones on the car just take your time and dont be afraid to use a couple good strong clamps to do the squeeze with,c clamps are good,wide vice grips and let it soak a bit and if there is a split in the rubber boot the penetrating oil could help.
larry perkins
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 03-03-2007, 08:27 PM
rino's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Southern California
Posts: 553
Quote:
Originally Posted by my123ca View Post
Where did you find the NuGeon Rebuilts? Been looking for a long time. If the procedure failed, you would probabaly have enough time to save money for new calipers because it will be awhile before you find out. Rear brake pads last for a long time.
If the procedure failed I would have a car in my hands that I could not drive and would need those calipers very badly and ASAP. Give me two or three days to find out how it goes, and then I'll post the source...
Fair enough?

Rino

__________________
1979 240D, W123, 105K miles, stick, white w/ tan interior.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:18 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2018 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Peach Parts or Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page