How To Bleed Brembo Brakes

[SneakerB]

do you have to bleed the brakes when just changing the pads?

 

[AusStinger]

The correct procedure when pushing back the pistons is to allow fluid to evacuate the caliper via the bleed nipple. This negates the risk of damaging the ABS module. Once all the pads are in, pump the brakes and then do a quick bleed all around.

 

[Aero_Tech]

What motive bleeder / adapter combination would be used for our cars? I've been on the motive site but it's not that clear.

 

[AusStinger]

Motive 0107.

 

[Hogman2022]

I got the 0107 kit and the adapter inside is 1107. im trying to get the cap on but it doesnt seem to go down far enough to grab the tabs. any tips or suggestions?.............nevermind.. just got it.. push hard!

 

[n1sm0__]

I bled the brakes on my car a few months once I swapped pads and rotors. Brakes are good and all, but lately I have been noticing that if I start to press, quickly depress, and press again on the brake pedal it is more responsive? Basically when I do that, I feel that I do not have to press on the brakes as hard to get more braking pressure vs when I do not do that. The pedal does not sink to the floorboard, and I used the Motive Brake Bleeder. Maybe I need to rebleed? I will say when I did bleed them, the Motive lost pressure as I bled the brakes, but that makes sense as I opened one brake bleeder fitting and all that pressure moved

 

[JSolo]

....the Motive lost pressure as I bled the brakes,.....

Lost how much pressure, down to 0 psi?

 

[n1sm0__]

....the Motive lost pressure as I bled the brakes,.....

Lost how much pressure, down to 0 psi?

no, I think the lowest it ever got to was 10psi. and it would only begin to drop once i opened the bleeder screws. I did the leak test with no fluid in it before and had to swap o rings to get a good seal

 

[JSolo]

If the line remained under pressure at all times, I don't see how air could have gotten into the system. Unless it's some issue with the master or abs module. There an option on diag tools to modulate the abs pump during bleed. Is it absolutely necessary; I don't think so. I've never done it on prior cars.

Maybe others have other ideas.

 

[Volfy]

Sounds like you do have air in your brake system. To check, I would try bleeding the old fashion way of having a helper pump the brake pedal on your command. Keep the master cylinder reservoir topped off manually. Check to see if bubbles come out of your nipples.

I personally don't like any of the fancy bleeders. Some 35yrs of manual bleeding countless cars and bikes. I see EXACTLY what goes into the system, I see what EXACTLY comes out of the system. Never fails. And it really doesn't take that much longer either. With a car, it does require a helper, which thankfully is usually not a problem for me. Quite often it is a plus, teaching my kids how it is properly done.

 

[JSolo]

With the manual method, the MC travels further in the bore than under normal operation. This can cause added wear on the seals within.

My usual process with the motive power bleeder is to first suck out (using syringe with hose that bottoms out) significant amount of fluid from the reservoir - leaving ~1/2" fluid from the bottom. Refill to full line with new fluid. Then attach the power bleeder and pressurize ~15psi (no more) and start bleeding. During process I make sure pressure never drops below 5-7 psi, nor power bleeder runs out of fluid.

 

[n1sm0__]

Sounds like you do have air in your brake system. To check, I would try bleeding the old fashion way of having a helper pump the brake pedal on your command. Keep the master cylinder reservoir topped off manually. Check to see if bubbles come out of your nipples.

I personally don't like any of the fancy bleeders. Some 35yrs of manual bleeding countless cars and bikes. I see EXACTLY what goes into the system, I see what EXACTLY comes out of the system. Never fails. And it really doesn't take that much longer either. With a car, it does require a helper, which thankfully is usually not a problem for me. Quite often it is a plus, teaching my kids how it is properly done.

I take it you have done this method and had no issues with the ABS unit? That was the whole reason i did it with the Motive pump as to avoid getting air in the ABS.

 

[Volfy]

I take it you have done this method and had no issues with the ABS unit? That was the whole reason i did it with the Motive pump as to avoid getting air in the ABS.

Haven't had to bleed the '23 Stinger just yet, but both '19 Stinger and '21 G70 bled manually just fine. Having an ABS in the brake system doesn't really make that much of a difference. There is a small volume of old brake fluid that gets trapped in the ABS pump and behind the ABS solenoid valves, but the amount is small compared to the overall brake fluid in the system. Yes, some car and/or bike have OBD2 software tools that lets you open up the valves to bleed the trapped fluid, and I have those tools for some of my bikes. I don't always bother using it though. Just doing plain old manual bleeding refreshes most of the fluid. I see far too many folks don't even bother with regular brake bleeding, which is a far worst problem IMO.

Besides, whenever you activate the ABS, the valve(s) will open and the ABS pump will cycle, and the trapped volume will be flushed out in an instant.

With the manual method, the MC travels further in the bore than under normal operation. This can cause added wear on the seals within.

Bleeding brakes imposes next to no pressure on the brake system, so the MC is under almost zero load/stress - unlike normal braking action. In fact, it is arguably better to allow the MC piston to exercise the entire stroke every once in a long while, just to make sure crud doesn't build up on the lower cylinder walls from rarely being used.

Besides, how often does the typical car gets brake bled? For a lot of drivers, the car would be lucky to see that done even ONCE. Car mfrs typically recommend brake bleed every 2yrs. Even if a guy were to follow that religiously over 10yrs, that's still only 4-5 times at most. If the lower 1/2 of MC cylinder bore is that dedicate and fragile, so as to wear out only after a few manual brake bleeds in its lifetime... think about how much more the upper 1/2 of the MC cylinder gets worked over during normal driving. Holy crap!!! It would wear out in less than a month of commuting!

 

[n1sm0__]

Haven't had to bleed the '23 Stinger just yet, but both '19 Stinger and '21 G70 bled manually just fine. Having an ABS in the brake system doesn't really make that much of a difference. There is a small volume of old brake fluid that gets trapped in the ABS pump and behind the ABS solenoid valves, but the amount is small compared to the overall brake fluid in the system. Yes, some car and/or bike have OBD2 software tools that lets you open up the valves to bleed the trapped fluid, and I have those tools for some of my bikes. I don't always bother using it though. Just doing plain old manual bleeding refreshes most of the fluid. I see far too many folks don't even bother with regular brake bleeding, which is a far worst problem IMO.

Besides, whenever you activate the ABS, the valve(s) will open and the ABS pump will cycle, and the trapped volume will be flushed out in an instant.


Bleeding brakes imposes next to no pressure on the brake system, so the MC is under almost zero load/stress - unlike normal braking action. In fact, it is arguably better to allow the MC piston to exercise the entire stroke every once in a long while, just to make sure crud doesn't build up on the lower cylinder walls from rarely being used.

Besides, how often does the typical car gets brake bled? For a lot of drivers, the car would be lucky to see that done even ONCE. Car mfrs typically recommend brake bleed every 2yrs. Even if a guy were to follow that religiously over 10yrs, that's still only 4-5 times at most. If the lower 1/2 of MC cylinder bore is that dedicate and fragile, so as to wear out only after a few manual brake bleeds in its lifetime... think about how much more the upper 1/2 of the MC cylinder gets worked over during normal driving. Holy crap!!! It would wear out in less than a month of commuting!

Oh thank god, I have a '19 GT2 so that's a bit of a relief. Seems like I'm going to have to bug the old man to help me out on this. He was giving me so much crap for buying a fancy tool when I could've done it the "old fashioned way". I rather trust him than anyone else though since he's been around cars far longer than I've been alive

 

[Volfy]

Oh thank god, I have a '19 GT2 so that's a bit of a relief. Seems like I'm going to have to bug the old man to help me out on this. He was giving me so much crap for buying a fancy tool when I could've done it the "old fashioned way". I rather trust him than anyone else though since he's been around cars far longer than I've been alive

Your father spoke... wisely.

Being a father myself, nothing gives me more pride and pleasure than to spend an nice cool weekend wrenching on cars with my son. This past 3-4 yrs, my oldest and I did a lot of that. He appreciates learning from the old man. I love the chance to cultivate the next generation of gear heads and to pass on what I know... plus a few skinned knuckle stories sprinkled in here and there.

 

[Thomby]

So does anyone know the reasoning behind the counterclockwise from front right brake bleed order, instead of the usual farthest away method?

I could see it having something to do with modern ABS units that have four separate circuits (vs. FL/RR & FR/LR in older cars) and use the system for "torque vectoring"/e-diff replication, but even then I'd only expect that to maybe flip the L/R order if the ABS unit was on the passenger side or something.

 

[n1sm0__]

Welp, when in doubt, return to the ways of old.

Finally got it done just now via the two-man method, and it was my FR caliper that had the air bubble. Second I opened it, sounded like when you get the watery part of a ketchup bottle. And it was on the inside bleeder valve as well. Went for a drive and now ABS really kicks in on hard stops. I was already enjoying my Carbotech brakes, now I REALLY like them and will look for a set for my rears. Stops better than my all EBC 4GS

 

[Volfy]

Welp, when in doubt, return to the ways of old.

Finally got it done just now via the two-man method, and it was my FR caliper that had the air bubble. Second I opened it, sounded like when you get the watery part of a ketchup bottle. And it was on the inside bleeder valve as well. Went for a drive and now ABS really kicks in on hard stops. I was already enjoying my Carbotech brakes, now I REALLY like them and will look for a set for my rears. Stops better than my all EBC 4GS

Glad you got it sorted out. I prefer seeing exact how new fluid goes into the M/C reservoir, and how old fluid comes out of the nipple. It's about as fool proof as it gets.

So does anyone know the reasoning behind the counterclockwise from front right brake bleed order, instead of the usual farthest away method?

I could see it having something to do with modern ABS units that have four separate circuits (vs. FL/RR & FR/LR in older cars) and use the system for "torque vectoring"/e-diff replication, but even then I'd only expect that to maybe flip the L/R order if the ABS unit was on the passenger side or something.

Dunno, The last two times we flushed the brake fluid on our Stinger/G70, we did the the old fashion pattern and had no problem getting nice clean new fluid coming out of each nipple. As far as being able to flush out old fluid is concerned, I don't see why a guy couldn't bleed all 4 corners in any order. Maybe that particular pattern is the most efficient and so you waste the least amount of fluid? Honestly, new brake fluid is cheap and I ALWAYS over-bleed than necessary just to be absolutely sure anyway. Really doesn't matter to me.

 

[n1sm0__]

I followed the method Kia suggested because it was the easiest to remember. I didnt even bother leveling the car I did it the very lazy way of one wheel at a time and had no issues.

 

[Volfy]

LOL, I didn't know leveling the car is a thing for bleeding brakes. I can see how that might be a problem if I live in San Francisco, though, if the ass end of the car sits higher than the M/C.

Now that I'm aware of the order Kia suggests for bleeding brakes, I'd do it that way and see if that ends up using less fluid.