After the many *GREAT* suggestions to the list, my TR6 now has working
front brakes, once again! Thanks go to Scott Cypher, Scott Fisher,
Berry Kercheval, Andy Mace, Greg Meboe, Doug Mitchell, Gary Schneider,
and Paul Swengler for their suggestions. (If I left anybody out, I'm
sorry...)
At some point, I'll put together an article which addresses the "How
to Bleed Your Brakes" question, for future reference, and add it to
the VTR archives, since I received so many excellent ideas.
What was the problem? No, it wasn't that I forgot to put fluid in the
master cylinder, or that my wife was pressing the wrong pedal. (She
got a laugh out of that comment, by the way... :-))
I think the problem was that since I had removed the master cylinder
when replacing the fluid reservoir, the master cylinder (and most of
the front brake lines) was entirely devoid of fluid. Since the
cylinder and lines were full of air, fluid was not being properly
pulled into the master cylinder from the fluid reservoir, past the
"tipping valve." Some people suggested I needed to "prime" the master
cylinder to get things working. Unfortunately, unlike many domestic
master cylinders, the TR6 master cylinder doesn't have a bleed screw.
Alternatively, the problem may have been with the pressure
differential warning actuator (PDWA) shuttle. However, I'm not sure
of which caused the problem, because the solution didn't require me to
diagnose the cause of the bleeding difficulties!
The winning suggestion was from Paul Swengler, who suggested I use a
vacuum pump to pull air/fluid out through the caliper bleed screws. I
bought a $19.96 "Mityvac Vacuum Pump / Brake Bleeding Kit" at my local
Walmart. This is a tool I had wanted to buy anyway, but had been
putting off, because I hate having to spend any money that I don't
need to.
The three auto-parts stores I tried before Walmart didn't have quite
what I was looking for -- they either just had bleed hoses, or had
bleeding kits which work by pressurizing the master cylinder
reservoir, with no attachments for a TR6, and cost >$50. Thus, once
again, Walmart carried the tool I couldn't find locally elsewhere. It
seems pretty well made, at least when one takes into account that it
won't be used as frequently as a wrench or screwdriver.
I simply attached the vacuum pump to the caliper bleed screw, and
finally (after about 3 minutes) started pulling fluid (instead of just
air) from the bleed screw. I repeated this with the other caliper,
and then checked the results in the "conventional" bleeding fashion.
The vacuum pump did a good job and was a one-person operation (with
the exception of checking the results in the "conventional" fashion).
I just wish I had this last year when I struggled with bleeding the
clutch hydraulics!
I still haven't driven on the newly bleeded brakes yet, but the pedal
seems to be at least as firm as it was before this adventure!
Lesson learned, yet again: A job is *much* easier with the right tool!
One would think I'd have learned this by now, after struggling
without, and then finally buying a tie rod separator, and a digital
multimeter, and an 8-pt socket for removing drain plugs, and...
--ken
Kenneth B. Streeter | EMAIL: streeter@sanders.com
Lockheed Sanders, PTP2-A001 | WWW: http://rassp.sanders.com/streeter/
65 River Road | Voice: (603) 885-9604
Hudson, NH 03051 | Fax: (603) 885-0631
|