Lawr

Great, thank you for that info! That's all I was waiting for to order everything. Also, thanks for doing that write up, I'll be using that as my guide.

E60COYOTE

Do you really need the engine running to manually bleed the brakes?

I've recently changed my fluid using a pressure bleeder from my brother's shop and was quite unhappy with the results. besides the overfill problem noted in previous posts which lead to brake fluid venting out, I immediately noticed the pedal was soft and unresponsive. It felt like the pedal had to be pressed much further than usual to engage the pads and I had to apply more pressure than usual. I performed a manual bleeding (engine not running) and I got air out of the rear lines but I'm still not liking the way the pedal feels.

Any suggestions?

beaker

Where did I say to leave the engine running?

Overfill problem? Venting? Sorry - you've lost me. Not sure what you mean by either of these.

If the pedal is spongy, then you didn't do the procedure correctly and you have air in your lines. If you're using a pressure bleeder, there's no need to have the engine running, and you shouldn't be touching the brake pedal until you're all done and have closed up everything.

E60COYOTE

I pressure bled with the engine off and not pushing the pedal. When I was finished, fluid was to the top of the reservoir. Not thinking this was a problem, I put the cap on and drove off. There was no spillage when I put the cap on but when I checked later, there was fluid all over the fender well inside the engine comartment. I assume that there is some sort of venting for overfill?

There was a post by SALAKI that mentioned that you must start the engine first before you manually bleed the brakes. I've never heard of such a thing - that's what prompted my question about the engine running.

lcc014

I did the brake bleeding after replacing the rear brake caliper in my Volvo. No need to start engine at all.

beaker

He's wrong.