How to Do a Bleed Free Brake Job

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By bobzmialroom
User-Submitted Article

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The basics

How to do a brake job without bleeding brakes

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Floor jack, 4-way, jack handle, caliper wrench

Step 1

Loosen all lug nuts on tire you are doing disc brake replacement on using a 4-way.
Step 2

Using floor jack, lift vehicle just enough to raise tire off ground.
Step 3

Spin all lug nuts off wheel and remove wheel. Place lug nuts in a bowl or someting at least 2 feet away from you so as not to kick them into the grass, under the car, etc. Nothing like spending half your time just looking for that last lug nut (haha).
Step 4

Start car and turn the tires ALL THE WAY in the direction so as to make caliper face you. If it is in the wrong direction, you will not be able to access the top of the caliper with the bar.
Step 5

The fundamental of this whole project is to not brake ANY seals in your brake system. If you are about to do this. Knowing you are going to take on this project leads me to belive that you DO know where the brake fluid container is. That being said, it would be worthless for me to show pictures of every brake system fluid tank because there are so many different styles.
Step 6

That being said. Open up the brake fluid reservoir and remove about half the fluid in each one putting it in a clean bowl as it will be returned.
Step 7

Put the lid(s) back the the reservoir insuring it is tight.
Step 8

Go back to caliper and install prybar between outside of rotor and inside of caliper and slowly start to seperate them. I say slowly so you won't blow the seal around the caliper piston. That being said, should that piston seal blow and cause fluid to start leaaking past the piston, this was a good move because to hammer down on the brakes in an emergency will cause more force on that seal than you could muster. It needed replacement anyway.
Step 9

After the caliper is pushed out as far as it would go, unbolt the caliper. The brake fluid you pushed back inside the caliper is now in the master cylinder which is why you had to take some out. Now remove the caliper and let it swing to the side.
Step 10

The discs are now exposed. Out with the bad air and in with the good.
Step 11

Since you pushed the calipers ALL THE WAY OUT before you moved the caliper, to reinstall should just slide right back down so go ahead and bolt the caliper back on.
Step 12

Once the brake is back together, top off the brake fluid again. Press the brake. It will bottom out. Not to worry. Press it a couple of times to settle the new pads. Start the car and press a couple more times to settle again.
Step 13

Once you get one done, average time for 4 discs is less than 1 hour with no mess. NOT BAD. Be safe!

Comments

btucker11 said

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on 5/14/2009 i like this article....however i just replaced my brake pads and found that my driver side caliper had a bad piston at this point i had to replace and bleed my system...after completely replaceing all but the lines...they are good...I still have no braking pressure when the vehicle is started. Please help??

starlet67 said

on 4/8/2009 Good instructions for DIY brakes!

argyle said

on 1/27/2009 This is a good article. People are always telling me I HAVE to bleed my brakes when doing certain work on my truck. This article shows that if you are careful, you don't have to!