Unable to Bleed Brakes - Passenger Side F/R

[fadeawayfast]

Hello,

I've been working on the front & rear brakes on my 1985 Caravelle - updating pads, discs / drums, nuts & bolts over the past few months. I bought one of the Sealey VS820 Brake & Clutch Bleeding kits and gave that a go a while back and was able to bleed the drive side (RHD) on both the front and back perfectly fine but when doing the passenger side no fluid comes out. I tried again today after finishing off the rears and still no luck on the passenger side.



The reservoir in the dash (behind dials) is topped up to the max line and I had 10psi of pressure in the bleeder. There was a little leak of oil from the clutch cylinder closes to the engine when it was pressurised, could this be causing an issue? Add that to the list of 'Things to Replace Soon'.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[937carrera]

Sounds like the bleed nipple is not released enough.

If you take it out completely fluid should escape with very little effort required. What happens if you release the nipple and press on the brake pedal ?

[davidoft1]

Bleed nipples can be blocked solid with rust, as above , remove it and see, otherwise suspect the hose has collapsed

[Oldiebut goodie]

I have had a small piece of rust block the hole before, use a pin to carefully check for obstructions. Don't use a needle or fine drill bit as they can snap in the hole quite easily and then you may have more work to do to get the bits out.

[maxstu]

Lastly IIRC bleeding brakes starts with furthest from reservoir?

[fadeawayfast]

Thanks for the suggestions, i'm going to have another look this weekend.

I'm pretty sure I took the bleed screw right out on the front passenger side and no fluid came out. Will double check I did the top and not the bottom "drain" nipple.

"What happens if you release the nipple and press on the brake pedal ?" Will give this a go also, but the system was under pressure when I took the nipple right out so would think that would be simular?

Thanks

[937carrera]

... in which case, if true, you have no passenger side brakes.

Pressure on the header tank is not the same as pressure from the master cylinder. Quantity or potential for leaks from places not normally under pressure

[fadeawayfast]

It took a while, but I replaced the caliper with a new one from Brickwerks. This seems to have solved it as it now easy to bleed so there was a blockage somewhere in the caliper. I've not taken the time to inspect the old one it but will update if I do, be interested to get to the bottom of it.

Thanks for the advice

[937carrera]

Thanks for posting back, it's always appreciated.

Let us know what you find on the old caliper - probably just a rust blockage as mentioned above

[maxstu]

Yep. Mirror 937carrera's comments. Well done for posting back.
One thing l noticed is the year of your camper,fadeawayfast (very apprropriate considering subject).
It's the early version brakes? Do the calipers come with two bleed screws. My old 1985 caravelle did. Square pads with two pins and crucifix shaped plate on top. Or am l posting nonsense?

Regards
Stuart

[fadeawayfast]

Yeah they are the Early ATE version, they have 2 valves. I think the top one is the bleed and the bottom is a drain from what I remember. Seems to be the same on the Girling version.

Your description is the same as mine yeah

Thanks Peter