[mgarblik]

Lots of good info on bleeding brakes here. My experience has been that if you have enough time, gravity bleeding will almost always do an excellent job of removing the air from any brake system. The ten minutes mentioned is very possible in older vehicles without ABS. A vehicle with ABS and an empty system can take much longer, but will eventually gravity bleed out. The main issue there is the ABS actuators have very tiny accumulators and other passages, some as small as .010" diameter. Also, one way spring loaded check valves in some. On those type vehicles, they may have bleeder screws in the ABS units themselves. Many ABS systems, GM included, have an ABS self-bleed program that can be run with a scan tool. This uses the ABS motor and pump to push fluid through the tiny passages and send the air and fluid mix to the master cylinder. This cuts the bleeding time drastically. I work by myself 95% of the time. Possibly 1 out of 100, I will use my vacuum bleeder to speed-up or start the gravity bleed process, then let it finish by gravity. I get my best pedal when gravity bleeding. BTW, if doing a disc brake conversion, make sure to REMOVE the residual pressure check valve, (s), if reusing a drum brake MC. Otherwise, the disc brake system will drag and wear out the pads very quickly.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by dmorg1

Brad,

Bumping the pedal is a good trick. I will give it a try next time I am in that situation. Thanks for sharing.

Dave

Dave, my dad showed me that trick years ago, it will fill the system up while allowing air to vent into the reservoir at the same time. In effect your bleeding both ends of the fluid column. Because your not depressing the entire stroke of the pedal, it won't suck air into the open bleeders. It just makes the job quicker, and when you're getting paid by the work you produce, rather than an hourly wage, it affects your pay at the end of the week.

Flat rate mechanics are very innovative when it come to turning work out, and having zero comebacks. The second time you have to do a job, it's for free. A couple of comebacks in a week will devastate your paycheck. It makes you precise with the quality, and fast for the quantity. Turning 50 hours worth of labor, in a 40 hour week, nets you 25% extra pay. Of course 30 hours of labor in 40 hours, you can figure it out.

When I first started working on cars for a living, I watched and listened to the old guys, they have a bunch of tricks if you can either watch them, or listen to them. I'm now the old guy, and I try to share the stuff hard learned with the forum on PY. Over the years I learned a ton from others, so I try to share with people that can benefit, If it benefits someone, that's great. Taking that knowledge to the grave, serves no one.