My brakes were feeling a little squishy lately. The previous owner said that he bled the brakes fairly often, I'm the type that likes to do things and log the miles myself. I use ATE Blue on my BMW cage and figured I'd crack open a new bottle to use on the bike too. The blue fluid makes it real easy to see once you're pulling new fluid through the bleeder!
I went through the bleeding order as described in the service manual using my Mity-vac 7201 fluid extractor to pull the fluid through. Holy crap, I wasn't expecting *7* bleeder screws! I swear I filled up the master reservoir 3 times before I got new fluid out through the screw near the battery...there's a lot of fluid in that sucker!
I also put on EBC HH pads front and rear. Maybe I'll go in and perform a brake pad bedding procedure later tonight.. right now I'm too dirty to put on the 'stich :).
Same deal with me today, ATE Super Blue into my '04 non-ABS VFR. What a "good time" this has been. How well does the Mity pull fluid through the central bleeder (the one near the battery)? I sat on the garage floor for at least 30 minutes pumping that stupid front caliper while cranking the bleeder open and shut before I saw nice Smurf juice coming out of that thing. And I know I'm not done yet, the rest of the rear still needs a little more fluid moved through it, but I'm taking a break. Then it's on to the clutch, although that shouldn't be too bad.
Make sure you go through the Honda service manual (available on this site) and hit the bleed valves in the right order. Also, you have to take the rear caliper off and mount it on top of the rotor while you bleed it.
I had a helluva time bleeding mine. Took me three tries before i finally got it right, and i ended up not using the Mightyvac, just pumping the pedal the old fashioned way. Also noticed that its important to not open the bleed valves very much, or air gets in around the threads.
Sorry, I missed the part where you said you followed the order. Too tired when I posted i guess... Anyway after thinking about it i guess the order probably doesn't matter that much when you're replacing the fluid, only when you are trying to fix a system that has air in it. Are the brakes still spongy after bleeding?
[image: View Post]codeMonkey, on Aug 24 2008, 11:00 PM, said:
Also, you have to take the rear caliper off and mount it on top of the rotor while you bleed it.
The manual also tells you to remove the front left caliper.
But really you can leave both calipers in place if you are just renewing the existing fluid rather than filling an empty system or trying to remove air bubbles. At least that's what I did and I had no problems - levers and pedals were firm.
Getting to that center rear brake bleed nipple is a bit awkward. It helps to have small hands, long fingers, and a flashlight. Oh, and cleaning everything in the area thoroughly beforehand helps.
[image: View Post]codeMonkey, on Aug 24 2008, 08:00 PM, said:
Make sure you go through the Honda service manual (available on this site) and hit the bleed valves in the right order. Also, you have to take the rear caliper off and mount it on top of the rotor while you bleed it.
Read my post? :) I said that I went through the order as described in the service manual :).
I didn't pull any calipers, pumped the front left by hand while manning the center bleeder screw, and the rear caliper screw wasn't that hard to get to once I found it under the muck. Cleaned it with brake cleaner and a rag before I started working that one.
The rear brake feels about the same as before, but the "front" seems way better than before. Real firm lever, grabs nicely, and pulls up nicely. I wonder if they were never bled properly in the first place.
End of thread · 7 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 12 Apr 2010