Car Brakes - Versus King

Having car brakes that work effectively is of vital importance. Brakes are the most important safety feature that a car has and they need to be in full working order for a car to drive safely. However, they can sometimes feel spongy or unresponsive, and this might be due to some air bubbles in your brake lines. In this article, we’ll explain a simple method to get air out of your brake lines (see also 'Are Power Stop Brakes Good?'). How To Get Air Out Of Brake Lines There are several different ways you can do this, but this is our favorite as it can be easily done at home. If you’re unsure about the process or have any concerns as you complete it, please consult with an expert as soon as possible. Equipment Needed Car jack Funnel Glass/plastic canister Gloves Plastic hose Shop rags Wrench/spanner (optional) You will need a second pair of hands to help you, so try to get a friend or family member to help. Step One Your first step is to jack up your car and ensure that it is secure. It should be jacked on a surface that is safe and level and take the balanced weight of the car. With the car jacked, you will need to locate both the bleeder bolt at the first wheel you’re targeting. You should be able to identify the bolt by looking for a long and cylindrical bolt. It’s used to relieve the pressure that can build up in your brake lines. Step Two Now that you’ve located the bleeder bolt, you need to loosen it a little. You can use a tool such as a wrench or spanner for this, but you should be able to loosen it with your hands. If you opt to use your hands, make sure you’re wearing gloves. Brake fluid can damage the skin so it’s best to take precautions. With the bolt loosened, attach one end of your plastic hose over the bolt. The other end of the hose should be placed into your canister so that any fluid can be safely caught and removed. Step Three This next step is easier if you have someone to help you out. Ask your helper to press down on the brakes with their hands a few times. They don’t need to keep the brakes pressed down for long but should do so several times. Pressing the brakes should cause some brake fluid to be expelled so keep your hands on those to ensure that it remains in the canister and all of the fluid is collected. You should keep pressing the brakes until no more brake fluid flows. Step Four Once you’re happy that all of the brake fluid has been flushed from the system and no more is coming through the hose, you can move on. Your helper can stop pressing on the brakes and you should remove the hose from the bleeder bolt. Wipe off the bleeder bolt with your shop rag so that no drops of brake fluid drip to the floor. Step Five With all of the brake fluid drained, you will need to replace it. You can use fresh fluid for this but you can also reused the fluid that you drained. If you decide to reuse the fluid, make sure that the old fluid has had a chance to settle and that there are no air bubbles in it. If you replace it and there are air bubbles in the fluid, you will have just undone all of your hard work! You will need to unscrew the master cylinder reservoir cap so that you can replace the brake fluid. Ask your helper to keep the brakes pressed down while you slowly pour your brake fluid through a funnel and into the reservoir. It’s important that the brakes are kept down as this will create the pressure needed to push out any air bubbles that do decide to form. Make sure that you do not overfill the brake fluid and stop at the maximum fluid level. Step Six After refilling the brake fluid, you can retighten the bleeder bolt. Don’t forget to do this as tightening the bolt will help to ensure that no air bubbles can get in and that no leaking will happen. If you leave it loose after filling the reservoir, you’ll leak fluid and get more air bubbles. Step Seven Repeat the previous six steps for your three other wheels (see also 'How To Measure Wheelbase'). Once you’ve drained and refilled the brake fluid for all of the wheels, you should take your car out for a drive. If all of the air bubbles have been removed correctly, you should find that your brakes are more responsive and feel less spongy than they once did. Other Methods For Removing Air There are other methods for removing air from your brake lines but they typically use equipment that the average person doesn’t have at home. One such method is to use a hand-operated vacuum gun which can be rigged up to the bleeder bolt. This can be a difficult method to do correctly as air can sometimes get into the system as you’re draining the fluid and air. Another method uses a venturi bleeder. This works in a similar way to the hand-operated vacuum and also has the same problems. Unless you’re experienced at using these tools, we would recommend sticking with the process we detailed above. Of course, you can always get the air out of your brake lines by consulting with a professional. It’s a good idea to get your car regularly serviced and maintained and they can check your brake lines as part of that service. Final Thoughts In this article, we detailed a step-by-step process to remove the air from your brake lines. We explained a method that doesn't require any special tools but is still effective at ensuring you don’t have any air bubbles in your brake lines. We also gave a brief overview of two more methods. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag-Q_lP0dOk