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Brake fluid flush question
Today I was doing my every-2-year brake fluid flush on my BMW.
I had finished with the two back wheels, and was starting on the front passenger side wheel, when I sheared off the bleed screw on the caliper DAMMIT! So, now, there's no part of it above the caliper housing as it sheared evenly at about the housing level. What really annoys is that I was leaving for Florida in the morning in the car, but I wanted to finish the flush first. I'm gonna try to find a shop that'll get the thing out and put a new one in in the morning but may be unalbe to on such short notice. (I tried for a while doing this myself, but have finished with that attempt.) This may seem like a stupid question, but it's not something I've thought much about: If I use the car for a couple of weeks with the front lines un-flushed, would the fluid in those lines affect the nice clean fluid in the lines to the back wheels? IOW, if I flush the front lines in a couple of weeks, will it be as good as if I'd been able to do them all today? Thanks. --F |
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Brake fluid flush question
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Brake fluid flush question
wrote:
> Today I was doing my every-2-year brake fluid flush on my BMW. > I had finished with the two back wheels, and was starting on > the front passenger side wheel, when I sheared off the bleed > screw on the caliper DAMMIT! So, now, there's no part of > it above the caliper housing as it sheared evenly at about the > housing level. What really annoys is that I was leaving for > Florida in the morning in the car, but I wanted to finish the > flush first. I'm gonna try to find a shop that'll get the thing > out and put a new one in in the morning but may be unalbe > to on such short notice. (I tried for a while doing this myself, > but have finished with that attempt.) > > This may seem like a stupid question, but it's not something > I've thought much about: If I use the car for a couple of weeks > with the front lines un-flushed, would the fluid in those lines > affect the nice clean fluid in the lines to the back wheels? > IOW, if I flush the front lines in a couple of weeks, will it > be as good as if I'd been able to do them all today? Thanks. > > --F > I'd just drive the car and not worry about it, but when you do get the bleeder screw fixed might as well flush the system completely. Theoretically the only intermixing of the fluid would happen way up at the reservoir, but it doesn't take that much more time... just curious, does your BMW have those little rubber caps on the bleeders? I've found those to be quite useful; at least I've never owned a car that still had them that I had any problems bleeding. nate -- replace "fly" with "com" to reply. http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel |
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Brake fluid flush question
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Brake fluid flush question
« Paul » wrote:
> > If a BMW has only one reservoir for the fluid, then it will eventually mix. > Crack the line at the caliper and bleed it that way. I would *not* attempt to bleed the brakes by opening the brake line at the banjo bolt. It's hard enough to get all the air out when done correctly. Why not just fix the broken fitting and do it the right way? -- -Fred W |
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Brake fluid flush question
Fred W wrote:
> > « Paul » wrote: > > > > > If a BMW has only one reservoir for the fluid, then it will eventually mix. > > Crack the line at the caliper and bleed it that way. > > I would *not* attempt to bleed the brakes by opening the brake line at > the banjo bolt. It's hard enough to get all the air out when done > correctly. Why not just fix the broken fitting and do it the right way? > > -- > -Fred W Success depends on the amount of common sense of the person(s) doing the bleeding. |
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Brake fluid flush question
Nate Nagel wrote: > wrote: > > Today I was doing my every-2-year brake fluid flush on my BMW. > > I had finished with the two back wheels, and was starting on > > the front passenger side wheel, when I sheared off the bleed > > screw on the caliper DAMMIT! So, now, there's no part of > > it above the caliper housing as it sheared evenly at about the > > housing level. What really annoys is that I was leaving for > > Florida in the morning in the car, but I wanted to finish the > > flush first. I'm gonna try to find a shop that'll get the thing > > out and put a new one in in the morning but may be unalbe > > to on such short notice. (I tried for a while doing this myself, > > but have finished with that attempt.) > > > > This may seem like a stupid question, but it's not something > > I've thought much about: If I use the car for a couple of weeks > > with the front lines un-flushed, would the fluid in those lines > > affect the nice clean fluid in the lines to the back wheels? > > IOW, if I flush the front lines in a couple of weeks, will it > > be as good as if I'd been able to do them all today? Thanks. > > > > --F > > > > I'd just drive the car and not worry about it, Yep Nate, that's exactly what I did. I'm back now after 10 days of no Web access and no phones...bliss. I couldn't find a shop that could fix the thing on short notice, but now that I'm back, I'm thinking of trying to get it out myself. I've got a drill, but I need a little bit that will bite into the metal, just enough to perhaps makes a couple of little notches so I could try and use a little screw driver to back the bleeder out. It's hard to believe I put it in so tight 16 months ago when I replaced pads and rotors on that car. The bits I have supposedly can be used with metal, but I can't get it to bite at all. Are there any special bits I could get that would bite? Another thing, this bleeder is officially called a "ventilation valve" and is VERY hard to find. Dealerships don't carry them and I haven't found any on line after briefly searching. I'm surprised that they're not needed enough for them to be in stock. > just curious, does your BMW have those little rubber caps on the > bleeders? I've found those to be quite useful; at least I've never > owned a car that still had them that I had any problems bleeding. Yes, they do have those little rubber caps. I guess they are to provide redundancy in case a bleeder somehow got loose, causing no brakes without one. I think that's the cause of my problem. Even though I thought I was being careful not to overtighten those little things, I did. I always have this nightmare thought of one coming loose while driving. -- F |
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Brake fluid flush question
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#10
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Brake fluid flush question
In article .com>,
> wrote: > I bought a new torque wrench and will try to find a little deep socket > to fit this thing so it doesn't happen again. I have a tendency to over > tighten, unfortunately. It's all too easy when using a socket set on smaller sizes as the leverage is too high. Ring spanners are in different lengths according to nut size which limits the torque you can apply to somewhere near the correct amount. So if not using a ring spanner on smaller sizes and not a torque wrench (which really isn't necessary for things like bleed screws) grip the socket set handle near the pivot rather than at the end. Or use a 1/4 drive set for the smaller stuff since the handles on these are usually only about 6" long rather than more than double that on a 1/2" type. HTH. -- *Learn from your parents' mistakes - use birth control. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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