brake bleeding
there are several threads on bleeding brakes but
this one is one of the many that will give a general guideline on how to.
here's my general how-to:
[1] jack the car up starting with the farthest wheel. there are 2 schools of thought in that thread but i'd go with starting with the farthest wheel from the brake servo..
for RHD models, this would be
rear left --> rear right --> front left --> front right.
[2] clean the area around the bleed nipple using a dray rag. better if you have an old toothbrush to get to the tough-to-reach spots. then use an 8mm ring spanner to undo the bleed nipple - you need just to undo it slightly.. ensure you use a ring spanner, not an open-ended spanner or a pliers
as once you round it off, you will hate yourself
[3] be careful as brake fluid strips paint so you will want to get
a clear bottle and clear pipe if possible so that you can see the fluid and air bubbles as you bleed. get some rags to wipe off excess and to keep the place tidy.
[4] have a mate pump the pedal slowly maybe 8 to 10 times on each wheel. on the last pump, have them hold the pedal down as you secure the bleed nipple. this evades air going back into the system, thus the reason you want to have a clear bottle and pipe to see the movement of bubbles in there. also, once you have some old fluid in the bottle, try to keep the end of the bleed pipe under the fluid surface so that it doesn't suck air back in.
!! keep an eye on the reservoir to ensure that the fluid level doesn't drop too low and suck in air from the master cylinder side !!
[5] repeat for each wheel in the order given above and you should be sorted. when done, top up the fluid to the 'MAX' mark. don't overfill. imo, you are still ok if your fluid level is anywhere between half of 'MIN' and 'MAX' and 'MAX'.
hope this helps you somewhat..
