Some great input in this thread!

 

I just reverse bleed my clutch and brakes using a fat 50ml syringe and some transparent hose.

I swapped my Master Cylinder recently, drained all the fluid and bled everything. One clutch and 4 wheels were done in under 45 minutes and I had to pump the brake pedal exactly 4 times. Barely used 600ml fluid as well.

Here's how the master cylinder looked after the clutch was bled



a small video of the master cylinder filling up when bleeding the driver side front wheel

 

I'm about to rebuild my brakes and pulling the engine at the same time which means I'd prefer to empty the system completely.

Should I put some sort of "wash" through the system before putting everything back together

Anything I should keep in mind when refilling. The reverse bleeding done above looks interesting. Does the order change when doing it this way

 

I like this reverse bleeding idea. What did you use to do it?

 

I'm sure somebody knows an easy way of doing it but often when the brake system is allowed to go dry it can become a nightmare getting all the air out again. Personally, I'd avoid it.

 

There must be an easy way to do it. Everyone that does a full tear down for a racecar must have to go through it.

It's going to be hard to keep fluid in there with all 4 calipers removed from the car.

 

Just found this in the service manual.


MASTER CYLINDER BLEEDING
The master cylinder used has no check valve, so if bleeding is carried out by the following procedure, bleeding of air from the brake pipeline will become easier. (When brake fluid is not contained in the master cylinder.)
1. Fill the reserve tank with brake fluid.
2. Keep the brake pedal depressed.
3. Have another person cover the master cylinder outlet
with a finger.
4. With the outlet still closed, release the brake pedal.
5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 three or four times to fill the inside
of the master cylinder with brake fluid.

Now if I understand this correctly you remove the lines from the master cylinder and cover those outlets with your finger.

The part that it's missing is how you push the brake pedal back in. I assuming you remove your finger when pushing the pedal back in and then cover the outlets again and repeat.

Might have to look into some barb fittings that will fit the outlets to reduce the mess when removing your finger and pushing the pedal back in.

 

Stuff needed:

Big *** syringe. The biggest you can get which can take a pipe at the end.
A small syringe to drain old fluid from the master cylinder.
Few feet of transparent tubing.
Mallet
Spanner for the bleed nipple.

Steps:

1. Fill up the fat syringe with fresh brake fluid. FIll it up slowly so there are no air bubbles drawn in/caused by cavitation.
2. Drain the master cylinder with the other syringe, leave just enough fluid so that the holes at the bottom are covered.
3. Connect a 1 feet hose to the bleed nipple. Crack open the bleed nipple and let it fill up. Tap the caliper with a mallet few times to loosen any stuck air inside the caliper.
4. Once the hose is filled up with brake fluid and free from air, connect the syringe. I don't yet have a picture how it would a car but here's a picture from my bike bleeding days.



Always keep the syringe such that the plunger is on top. Any air you may encounter will get collected on top and you can prevent it from pushing it back into the system.

5. Apply a definite and constant pressure on the plunger. The plunger should start moving down and circulating fresh fluid in the system. When the plunger is nearing the end, close the bleed nipple, remove the syringe and keep the hose upright so that no fluid will leak out/air gets in. Fill up the syringe and repeat from Step 4.

You'll need to flush ~ 100-150ml (4-5 floz) per side. Every 100-150ml, empty the reservoir. push fresh fluid and check if the fluid getting collected is fresh. Once its fresh, you can stop on that end.

No need to add anything, just use half a quart/ one quart more and it should be much cleaner.

I follow the general rule of order, i.e., farthest first ending with the clutch as well.

I'll be swapping my brake lines to SS braided ones as well as rebuilding the calipers with fresh seals soon. I'll try and make a video to make explaining much easier.

 

From the service manual writer's perspective, the only time this procedure would be required is when the master cylinder has failed and is being replaced. The sort of overhauls we do would simply never be required, the car instead going to the crusher.

Anyway I would describe the above procedure as master cylinder bench bleeding, a method of getting most of the air out of a new and dry master cylinder, although they here decided to include the brake pedal. I think it would be more easily done in a bench vise.

 

Thank you, great write up!

 

Pressure bleeder FTW.

 

Power bleeders are the best.