Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
You bleed one, you should be doing all 4 right? I hear so many stories from all these shitty mechanics telling me that you can get away with just bleeding one or two.
A) two said if you have air in the back wheel(s) you only have to do the rears as the rears in our cars (cause its RWD) are running off seperate lines than the front and that air cant get transfered from the rear to the front. But they said if you do the back right, you need to do the left as well but no need to do the fronts. Is this true?
B) two more said that if only one wheel has air then you only rebleed that one wheel, you dont have to do the rest and air cant get transfered the rest of the wheels.
C) another one said you should ALWAYS do all 4 no matter the circumstance even if only a front wheel has air. If you dont rebleed all 4, air can get transfered to the next wheel.
So who here is telling the truth?
A) two said if you have air in the back wheel(s) you only have to do the rears as the rears in our cars (cause its RWD) are running off seperate lines than the front and that air cant get transfered from the rear to the front. But they said if you do the back right, you need to do the left as well but no need to do the fronts. Is this true?
B) two more said that if only one wheel has air then you only rebleed that one wheel, you dont have to do the rest and air cant get transfered the rest of the wheels.

C) another one said you should ALWAYS do all 4 no matter the circumstance even if only a front wheel has air. If you dont rebleed all 4, air can get transfered to the next wheel.
So who here is telling the truth?
Last edited by Civicnoobie; Sep 17, 2011 at 02:08 PM.
Re: Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
All the time right? Thats what I thought all along! But I had all these dumbass mechanics trying to tell me different. 
Like the 2 who tried telling me that air cant get transfered from one to another so you can get away with just bleeding one.
But is it true that air cant get transfered from the rear to the front and that in our cars (and most RWD cars), the fronts are seperate from the back?

Like the 2 who tried telling me that air cant get transfered from one to another so you can get away with just bleeding one.

But is it true that air cant get transfered from the rear to the front and that in our cars (and most RWD cars), the fronts are seperate from the back?
Re: Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
The braking system in 7th gen Civic's are split. The left-front brake is connected to the right rear brake so that if you develope a problem you will still have braking at two wheels. So yes the air could transfer from the rear to the front and front to rear. It's always saver to bleed all four but you could just do the opposite corners.
Re: Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
^ its not so you have breaking to two wheels its because if they had the front wheels on one system and the rear on the other and say you blew a brake line in the front. now you just lost 80% of your braking. the did it diagonally so if you blew a line you only lose 50% of braking instead of 80%.
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Re: Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
basically it comes down to getting rid of all the air bubbles in ur lines... thats IT.
ur car isnt going to blow up if u bleed the fronts first and then the rears.
but by doing it a specific sequence, it is EASIER to get all the bubbles out.
ur car isnt going to blow up if u bleed the fronts first and then the rears.
but by doing it a specific sequence, it is EASIER to get all the bubbles out.
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Re: Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
I bleed them all to get all the old crap out. General rule of thumb is to start from the line furthest from the master cylinder and work forward, but I always go by what the manual states to ensure things get done right. Did the bleeding sequence change from the 6th to 7th gen? I remember starting with my passenger rear, but don't remember if the sequence for my car is the same as 7th gens. I think I ended on the driver front though. The middle two may have been changed. It's been a while
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Re: Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
7thgen sequence is different. just looked it up in the honda service manual:
1. front left
2. front right
3. rear right
4. rear left
and always make sure the shop uses new brake fluid. i know many places that have large bottles and sometimes they tend to sit on the shelf opened (seal broken) til someone else needs a brake flush. bring in your own fluid even better.
1. front left
2. front right
3. rear right
4. rear left
and always make sure the shop uses new brake fluid. i know many places that have large bottles and sometimes they tend to sit on the shelf opened (seal broken) til someone else needs a brake flush. bring in your own fluid even better.
Re: Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
Well i did a brake flush last summer so i dont need to do another but if im bleeding the brakes, is it possible to get all the brake fluid out by doing that? I thought you have to vacuum all the brake fluid from the master cylinder and then connect the vacuum hose to all 4 brake lines in order to get it all out no?
Oh so start at the rear left first?
7thgen sequence is different. just looked it up in the honda service manual:
1. front left
2. front right
3. rear right
4. rear left
and always make sure the shop uses new brake fluid. i know many places that have large bottles and sometimes they tend to sit on the shelf opened (seal broken) til someone else needs a brake flush. bring in your own fluid even better.
1. front left
2. front right
3. rear right
4. rear left
and always make sure the shop uses new brake fluid. i know many places that have large bottles and sometimes they tend to sit on the shelf opened (seal broken) til someone else needs a brake flush. bring in your own fluid even better.
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Re: Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
lol did i not just post the correct order? usually number 1 means you do that one first. then number 2, etc.
Re: Whats the truth behind bleeding brakes?
I've no personal experience with them, but I've heard that that check valve can get messed up after a while. I really don't have an issue with the bottle and tube honestly. Although the air powered bleeder I got to use today was epic.
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