Any special tricks to bleed brakes?

[tr7driver]

I ordered a new front brake caliper for my 00 Avy and hope to swap it out this weekend. Once I get it in, is there anything I need to be aware of when bleeding the air out of the line. I’m thinking this is a standard open, pump, hold, close, repeat operation. If I swap only one caliper, will I need to bleed all 4 wheels or can I get away with only bleeding the new caliper? Thanks.

[bobflood]

If you swap the physical brake line connection to the caliper quickly and lose minimal fluid, you might get away with just bleeding that caliper. I suggest that you: break the fitting loose, then tighten back up lightly on old caliper; remove old caliper and mount new caliper; pour fluid in new caliper; disconnect and quickly move brake line from old to new caliper and tighten down; bleed the new caliper and see if you can get a firm pedal without touching others. If that works, great - if not, bleed starting with pass rear, then drivers rear, then pass front, then drivers front.

[ChiTDI]

If you still have the original eleven year old fluid in there, might be just as easy to flush the system. Cost you a little more for fluid and some more time at each nipple, but same process basically just constantly refilling the master.

[tr7driver]

Bob, good tip on loosening the connector while the old caliper was still bolted on, that makes it much easier. I was able to just follow your advice and only had to bleed the one caliper. The fluid that came out was very clean for an 11 year old car.

I bought an rebuilt toyota caliper from toyotapartsman and it was an exact match, bolted right up, inserted the pads, connected the fluid line and bled the line. The whole project took less than 30 min. I spent more time packing up the old core and returning it to the post office than I did wrenching. Thanks everyone!

[eurobob1978]

you may want to bleed the opposing corner as well. Not sure if they use diagonal braking failsafe like the Hondas that I am more familiar with. May be a Japan thing.

[bobflood]

Originally Posted by tr7driver

Bob, good tip on loosening the connector while the old caliper was still bolted on, that makes it much easier. I was able to just follow your advice and only had to bleed the one caliper. The fluid that came out was very clean for an 11 year old car.

I bought an rebuilt toyota caliper from toyotapartsman and it was an exact match, bolted right up, inserted the pads, connected the fluid line and bled the line. The whole project took less than 30 min. I spent more time packing up the old core and returning it to the post office than I did wrenching. Thanks everyone!

One more tip for next time. I also clamp a flat jaw visegrip on the flexible brake line a couple of inches above the banjo bolt fitting. This also helps keep fluid in and air out of the lines behind the visegrip. Put it far enough away that it doesn't impede moving the line to the new caliper.