caliper change - plugging brake line, to reduce loss/air in system/ease bleeding

jpaul said:
the 6'P phrase, we apply in engineering, comes to mind, mr southgate

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There’s proper planning and there’s wasting days overthinking, posting on here and seeking out ski poles when a hose clamp and 20 minutes of your time will complete the job.
But, you do you.

Wait, hold on..
You’re an engineer?
 
jpaul said:
the 6'P phrase, we apply in engineering, comes to mind, mr southgate

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What about if your:

Ratchet breaks?
Jack fails?
Axel stand fails?
Ramp bends?
Garage/driveway gets flooded?
You pull a muscle whilst doing the job?
You pour brake fluid on the paint work?
You round off bolts?
You can't get the bold off?
The bleed nipple snaps?
The ezebleed kit fails?

How much planning do you want to do?

Call a&e ahead of starting the job in case your drink a pint of brake fluid?
 
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You lose a surprisingly small amount of fluid when you change a caliper, well the ones i've done anyway! It isn't a torrent or fluid that comes out like a hosepipe, more of a dribble. So if you're there ready with the new caliper to screw it straight on you only lose a few drops normally, I've never had to clamp the lines or anything.

I use one of those 1 man bleeding kids with a 1 way valve, attach to bleed nipple that's cracked off and when you pump the pedal it doesn't let it suck any air back in when you let go, works well and is pretty quick.

I do have one of those ezbleed kids to attach to a spare tyre but i've never used it as it seemed like a lot of faff.
 
Crack off flexi hose but don't undo it, just a tiny crack.

Remove caliper bolts

Spin caliper off flexi hose

Spin new caliper on to flexi hose

If that loses more than 10ml of brake fluid then you're slow.
 
no do tell - I'm imagining virtual reality rehearsal for the actual work .... the weather isn't playing ball today.

but looking yesterday evening at car - seems I need to change a couple of corroded bleeds screws cracked two rears, but front two have little grip
they're now well plus gassed, but I think I will need to cut tops off and drive a small socket on ?
after getting some replacements ...
I don't understand that oem number matching parts/34116758107 I find on google all have bigger nuts 9mm than the existing 7mm of ones on there now

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jpaul said:
no do tell - I'm imagining virtual reality rehearsal for the actual work .... the weather isn't playing ball today.

but looking yesterday evening at car - seems I need to change a couple of corroded bleeds screws cracked two rears, but front two have little grip
they're now well plus gassed, but I think I will need to cut tops off and drive a small socket on ?
after getting some replacements ...
I don't understand that oem number matching parts/34116758107 I find on google all have bigger nuts 9mm than the existing 7mm of ones on there now

image.png
Click to expand...
I think it's mainly for master cylinders but I've heard people say that calipers can be bled on a bench which is to say they fashion on some fixings and fill/bleed the caliper prior to fitting. This avoids lots of bleeding when it's on the car but I don't think anyone actually does it. Just figured it may have come up during your research, definitely not recommending it.
 
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jpaul said:
no do tell - I'm imagining virtual reality rehearsal for the actual work .... the weather isn't playing ball today.

but looking yesterday evening at car - seems I need to change a couple of corroded bleeds screws cracked two rears, but front two have little grip
they're now well plus gassed, but I think I will need to cut tops off and drive a small socket on ?
after getting some replacements ...
I don't understand that oem number matching parts/34116758107 I find on google all have bigger nuts 9mm than the existing 7mm of ones on there now

image.png
Click to expand...
Have you tried heat instead of plus gas?
 
You should be able to get a deep socket on the bleed screws no problem to crack them open. A tap with a hammer should shock it off nicely. I would also invest in the proper "crow foot" type spanners for brake bleed nipples. You will not round them off then as even a ring spanner can round them quite easily.
 
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adam cool dude said:
You should be able to get a deep socket on the bleed screws no problem to crack them open. A tap with a hammer should shock it off nicely. I would also invest in the proper "crow foot" type spanners for brake bleed nipples. You will not round them off then as even a ring spanner can round them quite easily.
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100% have an actually decent set of flared spanners, i had a cheapo set and it was useless trying to undo the brake line on a 25 year old Impreza, had to stop the job and spend £15 on a single decent quality 8mm? flared spanner which had it off in seconds. Also really good on bleed nipples but i prefer a ring spanner personally.
 
I had mentioned plastic ... but the electrical level detector on the cap descending into reservoir interferes a bit.

adam cool dude said:
You should be able to get a deep socket on the bleed screws no problem to crack them open. A tap with a hammer should shock it off nicely. I would also invest in the proper "crow foot" type spanners for brake bleed nipples.
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I had bought some line/flare/crow spanners for the other nuts in the braking system,
for the 7mm caliper nipples, a ring spanner (but its 12ogv, not secure 6) reaches over the nipple, by design, I guess;
7mm good quality flare spanners seem rare, facom/elora ranges start at 8 ! (I love the feel of the genuine facoms I have in my set)
e: handling a snapon is on the bucket list

....

removing stuck bleed - versus the undersize socket I am consider mole grips / bacho water pump wrench, and some heat.
 
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I was hoping for an update of “it was easy, I’m done thanks for the help” but I see we’re still trying to design the rocket
 
grudas said:
but I see we’re still trying to design the rocket
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as I said - the front bleed valves don't want to budge (for follow on bleeding) so that+rain has stopped play ;
need to double check w/caliper bleed valves I order will be correct size
eezibleed works fine, though, had let a small amount out of rears.

(a double garage would be nice)
 
jpaul said:
as I said - the front bleed valves don't want to budge (for follow on bleeding) so that+rain has stopped play ;
need to double check w/caliper bleed valves I order will be correct size
eezibleed works fine, though, had let a small amount out of rears.

(a double garage would be nice)
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Have you tried calling local motorfactors? You should be able to buy a couple of different sizes and return the ones you don't need. Or at least take one off/take the caliper there to compare.
 
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GarethSouthgate said:
Have you tried calling local motorfactors?
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it's either a m10x1 or probably m8x1.25 .... there's enough of the thread visible to measure with a caliper .. which I should have done on Friday;
often, adverts tell you it matches oem part number but don't say/confirm what size it is (like buying tap valves)
 
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