Bleeding Brakes after changing calipers. - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

gorak · 06-03-2011, 10:31 AM

Ok so I had to change my front brake calipers because both were stuck. In order to bleed the air out of the system, the repair manual says I have to bleed the rear brakes first and that if i only do the front ones the rear brakes cannot be bled again. Seeing that i haven't even touched the rear ones, is this true and would it be necessary to bleed the rear ones as well? I would like to avoid having to get another set of jackstands, and more brake fluid just for this purpose.

gorak · 06-03-2011, 10:34 AM

Sorry, it's a 1997 Camry LE 1mzfe.

ruggz · 06-03-2011, 01:16 PM

No you don't need to do the back just bleed the passenger side first then the driver.

Mike Gerber · 06-03-2011, 06:33 PM

^ That is correct. There is no need to bleed the rear brakes unless you let all the brake fluid run out of the master cylinder while you were replacing the front calipers. Then it would be necessary to bleed all 4 brakes, starting with the right rear, then left rear, then right front, and finally the left front.

Mike

gorak · 06-03-2011, 07:02 PM

I think i messed something up. The brake pedal requires a hard press in order to hold at a stoplight. I don't believe i got all of the air out of the system. (I Did end up bleeding all wheels) Also there was smoke coming off the new rotors after i took it out for a test drive. Is this normal? Please help!

carsrus · 06-03-2011, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gorak

I think i messed something up. The brake pedal requires a hard press in order to hold at a stoplight. I don't believe i got all of the air out of the system. (I Did end up bleeding all wheels) Also there was smoke coming off the new rotors after i took it out for a test drive. Is this normal? Please help!

Lots of smoke? If it was jsut a little sometimes if you do not clean the rotors after touching them with greasy hands the grease will burn off.

How many times did you bleed per wheel? I would say 5-6 times is good enough, remembering to keep the master topped off.

pmesfun · 06-03-2011, 08:25 PM

I think the smoke is the protective coating the factory puts on to prevent corrosion, the same thing happened to me after I replaced the rotors on the Quest. It stopped smoking after the first test drive.

gorak · 06-04-2011, 10:45 AM

I guess I will have to try to bleed the system again, as i only did it about two times per wheel. I just hope i havent gotten air stuck in the master cylinder! As for the smoke, the brake pads are wagner thermoquiet and the rotors are wearever both from advance auto parts.

Mike Gerber · 06-04-2011, 05:45 PM

"I guess I will have to try to bleed the system again, as i only did it about two times per wheel."

That's not enough. Go back and do it about 10 times per wheel, just to be safe. These are your brakes. You need to be anal about doing this properly. TN needs all the members it can get.

As far as the smoke is concerned, if you didn't clean the rotor surfaces with some brake clean and some clean rags before installing them and then 1 final wipe down after everything is put back together, then it is most likely the protective coating that is put on the rotors at the factory to prevent rust, now burning off.

Mike

gorak · 06-04-2011, 06:21 PM

Yeah, I didn't clean the rotors. I didn't see any reason too as i did not get any grease or other contaminants on them.

ghettosled · 06-04-2011, 09:22 PM

new rotors are shipping with a coating of grease to protect them from rusting. next time you do this, clean the rotors before mounting up the caliper.

***JohnGD*** · 06-06-2011, 10:46 PM

^+1

The "weak brakes" problem may be the protective oil/grease applied on the new rotors. New rotors should always be cleaned off with brake parts cleaner before installation unless specified otherwise. Some shops would even wash it in hot soapy water (that didn't work well for me, for some reason

). I'd remove them and clean the parts with brake cleaner, but protect rubber parts from over spray (petroleum solvents damage rubber).

Mike Gerber · 06-07-2011, 11:59 AM

"Some shops would even wash it in hot soapy water"

I had that procedure recommended to me by a Raybestos engineer. He said to use dishwashing liquid as it is great in removing grease/oil. Just rinse them thoroughly. I did that while helping a friend and then did a final cleaning with brake cleaner and the friend has never had a problem.

Mike