no front brake pressure

[chris kuba]

At the end of last season I slowly lost the use of the front brake on my '99 KDX 200. There was no visible signs of leakage and the resevoir was still full. I replaced the plunger in the master cylinder and that didn't work. So I replaced the brake line as well. There is still something wrong. I try to fill with new fluid but it still does not pressurize. Does anyone have an idea? Fluid does come out of the bleeder valve but very slowly. It also took about 2hours of squeezing the handle to get it to come out. Caliper is last thought but don't know where to begin.

 

[K220]

You will need to "back" bleed the brakes,,from the bottom up. I have read of fashioning a pressure bleeder with rubber tubing and a large syringe. Push the fluid from the caliper up to the master cylinder.

(I performed a quick forum search on "bleeding brakes" and noted the detailed version of the above)


Take the cover off your master cylinder. Check the level of luid. If it is at the max then you will have to remove some. This method works a treat. Get a syringe, from a vet supllys or pharamcy. Fill the syringe with fresh brake fluid, flick the syringe to remove any air bubbles, attach the syringe to the bleed nipple on the caliper using a length of clean plastic tubing. Crack open the bleed nipple whilst forcing the brake fluid through from the syringe, keep an eye on the level of fluid in the master cylinder, make sure you put enough fluid through to clear out all of the old fluid and air bubbles by using a syringe with a capacity larger than that of your brake system.

 

[chris kuba]

Thanks KawaRider I'll give that a try. I've heard about that method from a dealer once but haven't tried it. I was still kind of curious why there was no brake pressure with a full master cylinder. Hopefully it was just an air bubble or something. Thanks again.

 

[Racer X]

bleeding brakes...

There are vacuum bleeders available that work great. Not that expensive, but well worth the price.

 

[yarrowkevin]

funny I was just going to post the same thing, I drained the fluid out to change it and all of a sudden lost my front brakes, the master produces very little pressure, and wont harden up, I know how to bleed brakes and was stuck until I read this thanks Kevin