Brake pedal feel after bleeding

BlakeS94

Changed a rear caliper on my car this afternoon, '10 plate mondeo.

All went well, said I'd bleed all 4 corners and the clutch slave while I was at it.

Naturally a ton of air came out of the new caliper,other 3 corners had a bit come out but not too bad.

Used about 1.5L of DOT4 LV about 1.4L of that was for the brakes and 100ml or so for the clutch so I know the entire system is completely new fluid.

Did the job with a sealey pressure bleeder at 12psi. Took it for a test drive after and the brake pedal feels a bit soft for half the travel then firms up. Not bad, just different in a way I wasn't expecting. It's definitely more progressive than before,

just wanted to know if it's normal or could I still have air in the system?

Luna84

You still have air in the system. Probably very little but there is definitely still some in there.

BlakeS94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122586490#Comment_122586490

Okay I'll give it another go, I was fairly thorough when I did it, waited until no air bubbles in the tube and then a bit longer before tightening back up.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122586518#Comment_122586518

Pedal is the best way to bleed. If you're on your own hose from valve submerged in fluid, open valve and pedal to floor, tighten valve and repeat until firm.

9935452

Is there a bleed nipple on the master cylinder.

I was bleeding a 02 golf at one stage.

Bled and a lovely solid pedal. Started the car and no pedal. Found a bleed nipple on the master cylinder. Bled that. Perfect after.

The other thing is you might have air in the abs pump

Gusser09

Never heard of bleedin or a clutch slave. Are u a mechanic?

BlakeS94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122586899#Comment_122586899

No I'm not, you've never heard of someone bleeding a clutch? A hydraulic clutch?

Gusser09

Bring it to a garage before you wreck it mate

BlakeS94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122587059#Comment_122587059

No chance I'm not going to wreck it 😂, I'm comfortable doing most jobs myself. Just having an issue with this. You may be afraid to work on your car, but I'm not.

Also, a garage did this

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122587084#Comment_122587084

Not a reputable garage anyway.

BlakeS94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122587101#Comment_122587101

Very much so actually. Anyway jog on if you're not going to offer anything that might help me out and go look up hydraulic systems in a car while you're at it 😂

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122587109#Comment_122587109

I did. Bring it to a garage if you cant do it. Boards.ie isnt a garage mate.

Harcrid

What order did you bleed the brakes in? Usually it is recommended that the wheel furthest away from the master cylinder be done first and work back towards the front of the car. This should give you the best chance of a good bleed.

BlakeS94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122588671#Comment_122588671

Yeah I did rear left, rear right, front left, front right, master cylinder is on front right.

Harcrid

I would give it another try. I had similar on a car in the past and I bled all the calipers again and it much improved it. Theres definitely air somewhere still in there I would imagine.

BlakeS94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122588920#Comment_122588920

Went around all 4 corners again used 0.75ltr of fluid, pretty much no air came out, the tiniest single bubble every now and then. Wasn't hopeful, took it for a drive and the pedal is right there at the top of travel, don't understand how but the second go around worked. Nice and firm the whole way through feels great.

Thanks to those who helped

greasepalm

I would have started to bleed at the wheel where new unit was fitted. Is the handbrake suppose to be pulled and released to adjust the piston?

Once that wheel is done you can bleed all others. Hmm Ford have plastic master cylinder on pedals and give issues with sticky pedal . One can get plenty of dirty fluid out of both.

BlakeS94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122589480#Comment_122589480

As said above I got it sorted it's working very well now.

When I changed the caliper I bled that corner which was rear right, then went back and did rear left, rear right, front left, front right.

You're not supposed to touch the handbrake mechanism On a new caliper until it's bled and pushed in via the brake pedal, did all that and then attached the handbrake cable to the mechanism, which wasn't at all easy. Handbrake was left down during the entire process, it functions exactly as before.

greasepalm

Some of those calliper's you need to connect the cable as you have more movement in the arm . It has been too many years since working on cars.

FDave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122589410#Comment_122589410

Small air bubbles like to stick to the inside surfaces if the calipers. I always bleed then close nipple and give the pedal a few firm pumps to shock the bubbles to the top and re bleed. If I see bubbles come out I repeat.