slight mistake changing pads on a 98 camry

[bud659]

first time changing brakes and i mistakenly loosened the brake line causing a little brake fluid to leak

after putting everything back together, the brakes are good but they require the brake pedal to travel a little further than i thought. do my brakes need to be bled? car stops ok but just isnt ideal. how do you bleed brakes?

1998 camry 4cyl CAL emissions car. thanks

[Hajoca]

Do a search and you should get some good photos. Look on turbo ninjas site, same procedure in brakes section.
www . **********s dot com/camry/br.pdf
Park the car, if possible and not drive it.

Get some new (fresh) fluid, a jar and a piece of 1/4" clear tubing about 30cm to 50 cm long, even vinyl aquarium air tube will do.

Clean brake reservoir cap and area.
Open brake reservoir, fill with fluid as much as you can without spilling over.

Put some clean fluid into jar, place tube end into jar below fluid and use a spring clip to hold it there.

Loosen bleeder fitting slightly and then finger tighten, slip other end of tube on. Open bleeder again and let fluid drain slowly until no bubbles come out.

Keep in mind:

Some people have a helper pump the brakes, I do not because I use a mini vacuum pump and a brake bleeder jar. If you want to buy the one man bleeder kit, stick with the one from Lisle.

[bud659]

with the clear tubing on the fitting and the other end in a jar of brake fluid, do i need someone to press the brake then release the fitting and leave it open until the fluid stops coming out? can i do this for just the front wheel or all wheels?

i hope this firms up the pedal a lot

[toyomoho]

The process works like this:

Helper presses on brake pedal, you open bleeder valve (hose attached and one end in a container), brake pedal will go to the floor as the fluid is bleed out.

When the pedal is at the floor have helper state something to indicate the pedal is now at the floor. Instruct the helper not to allow the pedal to retract up to to normal position until you have closed off the bleeder.

Once the bleeder valve is closed the helper can allow the pedal to return to the normal up position.

By doing this process air will not be drawn back into the line.

Repeat this process until the fluid coming out the valve is free of bubbles (this is reason you use clear hose).

Every couple of bleeding cycles check the brake fluid level in the master cylinder and top it off. You don't want the level to get too low and allow air into the master cylinder system.

Given only one brake line fitting was opened you should be fine just bleeding only that line of air.

[bud659]

dumb question from the new guy but can the jar with the clear tubing be empty? and i have a 1/2 pint of brake fluid left, do you think thats enough? never done this before. thanks!

[JohnGD]

I use pressure bleeder, and I don't keep any fluid in the jar (bottle really). If you do that you have to make sure the bleeder screw is closed before your helper releases the pedal. Also put a block of wood under the pedal to limit pedal travel (to protect the master cylinder piston cups into less used areas).

There are plenty of DIYs out there for the Google. Here is one from Advance Auto, look at the "Step-by-step" tabs:
http://www.advanceautoparts.com/engl...20011001bb.asp

According to Haynes manual, if only one caliper is loosened you can do just that one. But I'd recommend that you do all four and follow the proper bleed sequence (usually RR, LR, RF, LF, check manual to be sure). It takes about 1 qt to do all four.

It's never recommend to drive a car with a less than perfect brake system.

Originally Posted by bud659

dumb question from the new guy but can the jar with the clear tubing be empty? and i have a 1/2 pint of brake fluid left, do you think thats enough? never done this before. thanks!

[bud659]

thanks for all the great help. i had a helper push in the pedal and I opened up the bleeder twice on the front left caliper and put it back together. the pedal is much firmer now. thanks again