Front calipers

[ThomasPri]

Just replaced both front calipers but not able to bleed them. I only worked on the front brakes and the the rear master reservoir was not emptied. I cannot ger fluid into the caliper. I never had this issue before. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[baltobernie]

Any chance you sucked some air into the master cylinder?

[ThomasPri]

It's possible. I cannot figure out why no fluid to either caliper. How do you bleed the master?

[tima01864]

collapsed hose may be #1 suspect. Never bled the MC or tried to. But here is a video. Any comments on this method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JndDMtZHGjc

[DieselSpider]

collapsed hose may be #1 suspect. Never bled the MC or tried to. But here is a video. Any comments on this method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JndDMtZHGjc

And that is why I finally treated myself to a real MitiVac Vacuum Bleeder. No messy bleeding of the master cylinder and fast one man brake bleeding.

Be aware that some of the rubber brake hoses on the old Spiders do not react well with higher than DOT3 brake fluid so stay away from the fully synthetic brake fluids or you could have the lining fail inside the brake hose even though the outside may look nice. They can swell internally and get completely plugged solid making it impossible to bleed them. When I got my Spider the master cylinder, calipers, brake compensator and all the rubber hoses had been replaced a little over a year before I bought it however the previous owner had trouble bleeding the rears so took it to a Tire Kingdom franchise store who did get them bled but used DOT4 Full Synthetic Brake Fluid and all the rubber brake hoses swelled up inside destroying them. The master cylinder also failed but the calipers survived. He said all the parts he used came from International Auto Parts.

If the rubber hoses connected to the calipers have not been replaced it may be a good idea to replace them even if they are not plugged. I like to flush the lines out before attaching the new calipers to fully ensure that no old dirt or potentially old acidic brake fluid passes through the new calipers.

[DieselSpider]

collapsed hose may be #1 suspect. Never bled the MC or tried to. But here is a video. Any comments on this method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JndDMtZHGjc

And that is why I finally treated myself to a real MitiVac Vacuum Bleeder. No messy bleeding of the master cylinder and fast one man brake bleeding.

Be aware that some of the rubber brake hoses on the old Spiders do not react well with higher than DOT3 brake fluid so stay away from the fully synthetic brake fluids or you could have the lining fail inside the brake hose even though the outside may look nice. They can swell internally and get completely plugged solid making it impossible to bleed them. When I got my Spider the master cylinder, calipers, brake compensator and all the rubber hoses had been replaced a little over a year before I bought it however the previous owner had trouble bleeding the rears so took it to a Tire Kingdom franchise store who did get them bled but used DOT4 Full Synthetic Brake Fluid and all the rubber brake hoses swelled up inside destroying them. The master cylinder also failed but the calipers survived. He said all the parts he used came from International Auto Parts.

If the rubber hoses connected to the calipers have not been replaced it may be a good idea to replace them even if they are not plugged. I like to flush the lines out before attaching the new calipers to fully ensure that no old dirt or potentially old acidic brake fluid passes through the new calipers.