There are a few people who think that you really don't need to bleed your brakes that often to keep things okay. Even if the car has only 25k miles or less on it, they think that all will be okay. It's been mentioned many times by a number of people on this web site that brake fluid is hygroscopic (which means it absorbs water) and that can eventually cause problems with the brake system. Well here are a couple of examples of someone who thought that they didn't need to bleed there brakes very often because they hardly use the car. Below is the result of not bleeding your brakes for 5 years with only 6k miles. The next time they went out and used the brakes, major leaks on both front calipers. Don't be stupid and cheap when it comes to bleeding your brakes. Do it yearly or more often if you track the car or abuse your brake system. Also high heat temps on any brake fluid will create bubbles in the fluid in the caliper and brake lines which makes them feel spongy. Do it! It just may save your life some day.

 

What sort of car are those pistons out of?

 

What's the "proper" or most efficient way to bleed brakes?

 

Well for the average mechanic who may or may not have a buddy to help, I would recommend using speed bleeders from Russel's to make it a one man operation without reintroducing air back into the caliper. You'll have to measure the size of the thread and pitch when you order them from their web site. I haven't done that on my "G" yet but I have on my NSX. Works great especially in the field when you're tracking the car and must remove any heat induced bubbles in the system. If you have a compressed air system in your home garage, then you can buy a inexpensive suction device which will pull the brake fluid through the caliper through the bleeders as you keep filling the master cylinder. There is also a system which you fill a special container, hook up the hose on the special cap for the master cylinder, pump up the container and that pressure bleeds the fluid throughout the system. All work great and it's not rocket science here. If you've never done it before, have a good friend/mechanic show you and from there buy the right tools and go for it.

Al

 

Just be sure to follow the proper sequence, for our Gs it's~
passenger rear, driver front, driver rear then lastly passenger front.

 

Buy the $45 bleeder for Ford vehicles.

 

blnewt,
Just why is the sequence so critical? I always work from the master cylinder to the farthest caliper and work my way to the front. Since we don't have any power on the system, why should it matter which caliper gets bled when it does? Just curious.

Al

 

Al, not sure why, it's just listed in the FSB so I assume there must be a reason
I too used to bleed brakes from the furthest caliper or drum inward. I believe it has something to do w/ the Nissan ABS system.
~Brad

 

Because the RR and FL are on one circuit and the RL and FR are on another. Bleeding the further caliper and then the closer one is the way to get all the air/old fluid out most efficiently.

 

old thread just curious if anyone actually bleeds their brakes "often"

 

Every 3 years here, hopefully that is considered often enough.

 

are we talking about a full flush and fill and bleed? or just a random bleed and top off?

 

I was referring to a fluid flush, re-fill, and bleed.

 

I just did a full flush on mine. My fluid was nasty dark.

 

How do you know when you've pumped all the old fluid through? That is, how do you know if you've flushed the system?

I bled my brakes once, and just made sure the fluid coming out was clear, roughly ~3 pumps per bleeder.