Just realized I've been bleeding my brakes wrong for literally 5 years

Was at a buddy's garage in Nashville last saturday and he watched me do a bleed and just goes "why are you pumping the pedal that many times?" Turns out I've been forcing air back up into the system every time. Anyone else figure out a basic thing way later than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

markl753d ago

Nah man, pumping the pedal a bunch is the old school way and it works fine for most people. Bleeding brakes isn't that complicated, air goes up and fluid goes down, just gotta keep the reservoir full. I've been doing the pump and hold method for years on my old Ford and never had a soft pedal problem. Sounds like your buddy might be overthinking it with whatever fancy technique he's using.

shah.shane3d ago

The pump and hold method works fine on old stuff with simple systems but modern abs units are a different animal. You can push crud and air backwards into the modulator and that's a nightmare to sort out. I learned that the hard way on a BMW about ten years ago after chasing a spongy pedal for three weekends straight. A power bleeder is worth the money if you work on cars more than once a year.

thompson.finley3d ago

Wait, you're telling me you were literally pumping air back into the system for five years and never noticed a problem? That's wild, man... I've done some dumb stuff in my garage but nothing that could've made my brakes worse for that long.