Brake tips

• Never reuse any brake fluid. No matter how long its been sitting in a can. Its dirty whether you can see dirt or not and loaded with tiny bubbles. Use good quality fluid too. I prefer Castrol DOT 4.
• Always use proper brake wrenches/spanners to prevent rounding the bleeder. These have 5 corners rather than 3 and can still get it over the hose. Use axel stands!
• Cover the paintwork with towels and/or plastic trashbags. Brake fluid does very nasty things to paint.
• Wrap the master cylinder with a rag. You will spill or at least over fill then spill.
• Pour in new fluid slowly. Don't let it go gulp gulp for example. When done, replace the bottle cap.
• On a new system, always bleed the master cylinder on its own first.
• Any hoses which appear/feel soft, or have rubber chunks missing must be replaced. Much firmness (is that a word?) can be gained with new hoses!
• If the car is new to you but quite old and has been sitting a while, and you're uncertain of condition, Rebuilt the lot.
• Always start bleeding at the farthest wheel and work your way back on the same circuit.
• Use a clear 1 foot hose on the bleeder and the other end in a clear jar with some clean fluid (keep that end under fluid level).
• Never let the master's reseviour (sp?) run too low. I don't let it get past half cause its a nasty surprise when it sucks air!
• You must have the wheel cylinder / caliper assembled along with pads etc. If not you'll blow the piston right out since nothing is holding it back.
• When bleeding a wheel, have an assistant do the up-down routine. This is, assistant sits in driver seat and yells the position of the pedal when its changed. You open the bleeder just a 1/4 turn or so and yell "DOWN" and assistant pushes GENTLY until it hits bottom, then holds it down and yells "Down" to confirm position. You then close the bleeder and yell "UP". Assistant then returns pedal to upper position and yells "UP" to confirm position. If you each don't yell your position you'll end up opening the bleeder at its worst moment. You might even get a face full of fluid. Repeat this process a few times. Then check the masters reseviour level and refill if needed. Continue on that wheel until you see clean air free fluid coming down the clear hose into the bottle. I like to give a couple more pushes for insurance. Expect a fair amount of up/down process for new/was opened system.
• Follow your manuals bleeding sequence for the next wheel - usually other back wheel.
• Keep going around the car and make sure you never run low on the resevoir or you'll have to start the process all over.

IDEA:
Air naturally rises. Take advantage of this by raising the item to be bled as high as practical as compared to the master cylinder level. Got back wheels to bleed? Raise the whole back of the car as high as is safe and proceed. This should assist in the removal of air. Worth a try.

Buy, or better still borrow, one of those positive force brake bleeder kits. The one I have is called an EZI-bleed and work a charm. You put the clean brake fluid into a bottle that has a pipe going to the master cylinder (the kit comes with a number of different caps that will fit all types) and from the bottle a pipe goes to the spare or front wheel type valve. This pressurises the fluid in the bottle and when you open the bleeder valve at the wheel... Hey presto it just blasts the fluid right through.... Magic, and you don't even need an assistant!

Most spares places should stock this thingy na dit was well worth the cost.