Speedracer

So I installed my Stoptech 4-wheel kit. All went well. Did a brake bleed using a two-person technique as well as a vacuum assist device. My question is this:

How can I tell if I did it correctly? How should the pedal feel? There is definitely more "play" in the pedal, but my understanding is that this will occur with brake upgrades, particularly on all four wheels. Any clues as to whether there is still air in my calipers? I used up just about 2 bottles of brake fluid, and I did not empty the master cylinder reservoir before hand. Should I bleed out more fluid?

I started the car up while on jack stands. The front wheels are immobile, obviously, but the the rear calipers do at least appear to stop the rear rotors.

Thanks

ksj

I have the Stoptech kit as well. With the SS brake lines your brakes should feel firmer that before and you should not feel more play in the brakes. I had luck (bled them myself) with running a tube from the bleed valve to a bottle with some brake fluid in the bottom. I then opened the vavle and let it sit there until I didn't see bubbles anymore. Then I pressed the pedal firmly for 10 sec. I then ran and closed the valve before the air was sucked back in. If you press the pedal until the tube fills this isn't an issue as air won't get sucked back in. Be careful not to let the master cylinder suck air or it's major (and expensive) trouble.

I also took a rubber mallet to the caliper while it was open to loosen any air bubbles.

My brakes have about the same amount of play but are much firmer as I apply pressure.

Sharif@Forged

iTrader: (92)

Sounds like there is still air trapped in there. when bleeding, my brakes went rock hard. You will see tiny bubbles in the line, and the.....solid fluid. Not sure if the StopTechs are setup the same way, but Wilwood has inboard and outboard bleeders, and they advise bleeding the inside first..then the outside of each caliper.

Sharif@Forged

iTrader: (92)

Hey Clint...what is up with the low hand position. You look really smooth though.

What tires were you using?

And damn...nice how that Porsche waved you by....you are such a badddaaas!

King Tut

iTrader: (1)

If you haven't even driven your car yet, then there won't be a way to tell if you bled them properly. Just drive it real slow and make sure you have brake pressure and the pedal doesn't just go to the floor. Then go do the pad bed in process. After that if it still doesn't feel right you can try bleeding them again.

amolaver

iTrader: (1)

Wellll. At least in my car, after doing the 13" stoptech kit up front, and two bleed sessions, my pedal is *WAY* harder than it had ever been with the oem brakes. No idea why - I bled those fronts probably 6 times between track events and pad replacements.

And you definately should notice it before dropping the car - there should be very little 'free' movement of the pedal before you feel resistance.

It sounds like I use a similar procedure as you (two people, plus MityVac), and it takes quite a bit of time. I did use almost three full bottles of RBF600 (has SuperBlue in it, so I knew when it was really flushed), and also did the 'tap the caliper' routine with a rubber mallet.

My suggestion - get it back on stands, pull the wheels, and start over. What order did you bleed them in? What has worked for me so far (and follows StopTech's recommendations) is:

right-rear
left-rear
right-front-inboard
right-front-outboard
left-front-inboard
left-front-outboard

Make sure to close the bleed screw before the helper lets up on the pedal (sorry if that's obvious, but since ksj up above thinks he can "..pressed the pedal firmly for 10 sec. I then ran and closed the valve before the air was sucked back in." I'll run the risk of offending you for the sake of completeness).

ahm

ksj

I don't think I can, I've been doing it this way for 25+ years.

To be clear - the idea is to fill the tube with fluid so that air cannot be sucked back in. It took me about 10sec of firm pressure on the pedal to fill the tube with fluid when I installed my Stoptechs. Since there is fluid in the container and the other end of the tube is in it, no air can get sucked back in. It works quite well, though you do go through more fluid that you would if you had some one else to assist.

King Tut

iTrader: (1)

I didn't even go through a whole liter of ATE Super Blue doing mine. I followed the Stoptech instructions for the 4 wheel 14" BBK to the letter using a Craftsman brake bleeder kit where I just pumped it and it pulled the fluid out of the bleed valve then whent he bubbles were gone and while the fluid was going out I tightened the bleeder valve. I did all 8 bleeder vavles twice per Stoptechs recommendation. Brakes work great.