So today was the first time I bleed my brakes and I also replaced my old lines with good ridge ss brake lines. I just had a question about the bleeding.

In the DIY I read it said that once the line is attached to the steel hose you should gravity bleed it (while not attached to the caliper still). Brake fluid was steadily dripping without me doing anything but stupidly I actually did depress/release the brake. Fluid came out faster and then returned to its normal drip. I then attached the line to the caliper and started bleeding it. I put my bleed wrench on the bleed screw, put the fuel hose on the end and then loosened the bleed screw. I then told my friend to depress the brake pedal and hold it. He depressed it slowly to 3/4ish to full. Anyways, my concern is that not much really came out. It was a mild drip for about 10 seconds and then stopped. I didn't hear/see any air bubbles. Is this normal? I then closed the bleeder screw and had my friend bring up the brake. I just expected more fluid to come out when he depressed the brake pedal, not just a drip.

Did me releasing the brake pedal while the line was not attached to the caliper mess something up? Pics soon to come of the lineup

 

You just need to keep bleeding. It's going to take way more than one pump to fill the line and the caliper cylinder.

Fuel hose? Use clear tubing so you can see the fluid and when the bubbles stop. Opaque hose and looking for bubbles in the jar is way too old school.

Ken

 

Thanks Ken.

I think i actually know what I was doing wrong but here is my concern now. I was originally just planning on bleeding all 4 calipers because I am replacing the lines, and then leaving the master cylinder alone. Because I accidentally lifted the brake pedal up while the new ss line was hanging from the steel hose (not connected to the caliper but dripping fluid before attached, ie: i pumped the brake down and up), do I have to now bleed the master clyinder because there may be air in it now? Or would that not have affected it and should continue bleeding all other caliper while replacing the lines?

also, if I must bleed the master clyinder, where is the bleed valve for it? A picture was posted for the S2 models but it looks extremely different from my 05 model. IE, does not look like this https://www.rx8club.com/attachments/...asterbrace-jpg

Thanks for the info guys.

 

That I don't know. The only time I've bled a master cylinder was when I installed a new one decades ago. No bleed valve...the process was "bench bleeding," which involved running hoses from the outlets back to the reservoir. That picture is the first master cylinder I've seen with a bleed valve.

Do you have the shop manual? If nobody who knows for sure chimes in, that would show what you need to know. The S1 manuals is on a bunch of sites, and there are links to it here. I changed computers a little bit ago and lost the link when the old one melted, but you can find one by googling.

Ken

 

Thanks I figured out the wrench I was using was the problem. I need a no ratcheting
Box wrench but I had a ratchet one which doesn't work for bleeding.

Anyways it's working now but I ran into another issue. Like an idiot I was using a click torque wrench to tighten the bolt that secures the line to the caliper and it broke. I got it out and just cleaned and reused the oem bolt. Is this ok to do? They don't look any different and I used the new washers. Just wanted to make sure this is ok to do.

Thanks

 

Do you mean the bolt that goes through the banjo fitting? (I'm assuming it's a banjo...haven't messed with my 8's brakes yet, but that's what's usually there.) As long as it's the same size and you used the new washers, it's fine. Despite it being good practice to replace all of the hardware, most brake hardware other than seals can be re-used.

Ken

 

Thanks for all the advice Ken. I appreciate it.

Here is the final product for the front lines. Rear lines were much easier. Front ones seemed to not want to bend naturally how i wanted them too (regardless of which line I used on which side, kind of just went with what seemed like the worser of the evils).

Anyways, I bleed through a whole liter of brake fluid and it seemed to work.

Concerns: Only concern that I really had was once I went on a test drive, I stopped probably 10-20 times some hard stops some soft. They all seemed fine except I just heard what sounded like a airishy rubbing noise from the drivers side when i had my window open. I figured maybe it was just the sound of the tires stopping on the wettER road.

Only other concern I had was when I stopped fast a few times, intermintently I'd get a time where if i really stomped on the brakes, thered be like a "give out" location 3/4 of the way down the pedal stroke. It's not like the car stopped breaking but it like skips an inch down and then the breaking continues. Like an immediate soft spot and then hardening. I bleed each wheel until there were no air bubbles in my container when opening the valve and pushing down the brake. Is this normal?

All in all though I do feel a more mild stiffness in the beginning of the brake stroke. They look cool too. Heres pics of the front routing, let me know what you think.

 

Bump to see if any1 will comment on how the line-runs look. I have had them in for a week now and have tested braking a lot all week. I've checked the fluid every day once I get done with my commute and there is full fluid.

What is strange though is I feel inconsistency in the pedal. I sometimes get a soft pedal if I run into one of those situations where I hit the pedal quite hard. I also get a mild airy sound from the exterior, (maybe this is just the sound my winter tires make while stopping?).

Regardless, I kept bleeding these brakes through a full 32oz brake fluid bottle. I first did the back right, then back left, front right, and then front left lines. I bleed the same order and ended when I saw no air bubbles coming out of the bleeding fluid on the front driver's side tire.

I let the back two lines gravity bleed before attaching them to the caliper but because I attached the lines to the caliper first on the front brakes I couldnt do this.

Regardless, any ideas as to why the pedal may act a bit funny on sudden stops?
When my friend was helping me bleed the brakes, he kept saying that when I loosened the bleeding valve and he pushed down the pedal, it got soft half-way down the pedal stroke.

Any ideas?