a caliper that won't bleed
 

anyone ever encountered this? on my driver side caliper the outter pistons won't bleed. i even removed the bleed screw while my friend applied pedal pressure. NOTHING came out, it's not dry as a bone in there... but nothing came out!!! then you lossen the other side and the pedal sinks to the floor like a good bleeder. what gives???

i'm taking the car to the dealer tomorrow... i think they would warantee something like that. but this was very frustrating... took so many times of bleeding to find out that this one wasn't pushing out its air, which would then find itself back into the system after i drove a while.

anyone else have this happen?

aaaaaauuuuwwwwwwww mannnnn totaly bad news for you.........

just kidding/\ hahahahhah!!!

why are you bleeding anyways?? did you change the pads?? or just changing fluid??

you have to keep up with the motul pretty frequently otherwise it turns an ugly tea color and supposedly does harm to the corrodable components in the braking system (not the calipers cuz they're aluminum). but the thing is this caliper came this way... it never bled, it's just the first time i bled it didn't matter because there was no air stuck in there.

Sounds like something is clogging the crossover tube(s) between the two sides of the caliper? When you only have that specific nipple open (or removed entirely as you say)--all other nipples closed--does the pedal go down to the floor or is it impossible (or really hard) to push down, as if no bleed valves were open? In the latter case maybe kicking the pedal enough times will force whatever it is that's clogging the system to break up, but it may be possible it's jammed in there really good. Are there any signs of damage on the outside of the caliper?

as if no bleed valves are open. no damage, it was like this when it was new too. sounds like clog but i looked in... and obviously couldn'st see **** even with a snake light.

Here's a thought: if you take the brake pads out, and carefully push down on the pedal (you'll probably want someone else doing this while you observe), if the outer caliper pistons move then the clog is close to the bleed valve, between the outer pistons and the bleed valve; if they don't the clog somewhere between the two halves of the caliper (and chances are brake pad wear will be very uneven, too).

Either way it sounds like something covered by the warranty if it's still in effect.

my buddy had this problem when we were flushing and bleeding his brakes on his Audi. The caliper nozzle was clogged. There was a little bit of rust in the bottom of the hole. we made sure the bleeder screw itself was free and clear by removing it completely and scraping the inside, but we also had to scratch a thin flat-blade screwdriver around the nozzle in the caliper to break up the rust that was down in the hole, thats where the clog remained. after that, it worked sufficiently enough to get a thorough bleed.

i was thinking pipe cleaners? what do you guys think? i thot i left those in my past in second grade hahahaa

I say just let the dealer, um, deal with it?

Failing that, pipe cleaners are worth a shot--make sure you use heavy-duty ones, not the kindergarten-grade frooty-coloured ones that'll break apart inside your caliper. :lol:

where do i get heavy duty ones?

"Orchard Supply Racing"? Automotive shops might have some as well.

what about just swirling around a paper clip in the bleeder nipple?

i dunno, sounds like a freaky problem..

n

that's the problem. why wait on them and risk having them fack something up. if it's a quick fix, knock it out and be done with it instead of waiting. and waiting. and waiting on the damn dealership.

yeah... they'll also charge me 80 bucks for the diagnosis thta might not swing in my direction... might do a lil paper clip clothes hanger swirling.