mudmuncher Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Hi all Please could somebody offer me some advise on the problem below I have a 1986 land rover 90 long story but I needed a replacement brake caliper for the driver side front I replaced the caliper with a working 2nd hand one and went about bleeding the brakes once I fitted it I tried a easy bleed kit and bleed all of them twice didn't work can't get a firm peddle Then tried the 2 man manual method did this twice still can't get a firm peddle I have used a total of 4 litres of fluid and bleed them 4 times and still can't get any sort of firm peddle !!! The fluid is running clear from each bleed nipple with no air bubbles ok Now I am sure the master cylinder is ok this was replaced with a new Lucas one about 4 months ago and has been working fine up until the caliper needed changing Basically when I pump the peddle it come up and as soon as I let my foot off the peddle goes back to the floor The only problem I can see (which I need someone to tell me if this could be the cause) The brake calliper I fitted went on fine but I have a feeling I have the wrong side , the bleed nipple on the broken one ( and the other side one ) is at the top of the caliper above the brake pipe where as on the replacement calliper it is at the nipple is at the bottom below the brake pipe so my thought are the caliper I got is for the left and not the right Would this be the cause of not being able to get a good peddle ????? Or any other things I can do ??? Please help really need to get her up and working again Many thanks in advance for any advice offered Regards Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Barrett Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Sounds like your guess about the caliper being the wrong side is correct. You'll never get all the air out if the bleed nipple is below the brake pipe - unless someone on here has an ingenious method for doing it - and it would be the cause of a soft pedal. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and I hope you get it sorted out quickly. What was wrong with the original caliper? I used the tech article on here and rebuilt mine in about half a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Front calipers are handed Left & Right, so MUST be fitted to the correct side & always with the bleed screw at the Highest point, you'll never make the caliper work with the bleed screw at the bottom, your just wasting your time/effort/brake fluid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 The bleed nipple and the pipe fitting should be the same thread, so swap them over if you are able to do it. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agent nomad Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Had a Westfield sports car a few years ago These where fitted with all sorts of calipers some better suited than others if the bleed nipple was not at the very top due to them coming for all sorts of donor cars you could remove the caliper and place a piece of steel between the pads just like the disc would be and hold the caliper so the bleed nipple is at the top and bleed as normal. you may need another set of hands to help hold things in place then re fit the caliper to the car. As above if you can swoop the pipe around that would be better. Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmuncher Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 Thanks for all the advise guys I took the caplier back and got the correct side fitted it 2 pumps with the peddle and it's perfect now Many thanks again Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco-Ron Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 You wouldn't believe how many times i.ve heard stories like this, on alsorts of vehicles. . It seems lots of people think the air will fall to the bottom of the caliper, No. . . As you found out, one trial i.ve heard of being used is to unbolt the caliper, put a piece of wood between the pads, turn the caliper up the other way, bleed it. And re fit . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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