Brake Bleeding

Its that time again.... not for the mailbu, but for my daily driver(2005 GMC SCSB).

Replacing the brakes on the front(disc) and rear(drum)... consider this a "one man" brake bleeder, crew of one.

This idea has been around for ages, it'll be a great help when working alone, it'll cost very little, plus your time buiding one yourself... versus the ones you can buy pre made.

All i had to buy was the 3/8" OD x 1/4" ID clear pvc vinyl tubing from the local home depot... the brake fluid container to catch the old/new fluid, cordless drill with a 3/8" for the OD tube and 1/8" for the vent drill bits, of which i already had on hand, i took the extra step with the zip ties to lock the tube into the cap, top and bottom side.

How To:

Bleed Proceedure:

Yes... and it worked out just great.

Alone with replacing the brakes all around... i replaced the both rear drums and both front rotors, it was time.

Yeah.... the funny thing about them bleeder valves, i like to crack them open first with a 1/4" drive 6pt deep socket along with a 1/4" drive ratchet, 8mm for the rear, 10mm for the front, then used a matched sized small box end wrench afterwards to open and close them easily.

The threads are coarse and because of that, it seems to allow a small amount of fluid to drip even with the tiniest of openings, they should be more of a fine thread IMO and feel more snug like tapered pipe threads so nothing drips, that also allows small air bubbles to be produced, but that would probably suck for the people living up north with all the road salt driving in the snow rusting everything shut, no problem though with those living in the south.

After tightening the rear bleeder screws, no leaks as its a matched tapered end of the screw that came with the rear brake cylinders, but it was a different story for me for the front caliper screws. The passenger side bleeder hex head was next to being rounded off from the prior owner, a 10mm box end wrench didnt work, using vise grips didnt exactly work either as i didnt want to snap the bleeder screw in half. So i did the next best thing, old school trick if you will, i gently hammered on a 3/8" drive 3/8" 6pt deep socket so it would cut into the rounded off hex head, along with a 3/8" drive ratchet, i was then able to crack open the bleeder screw, worked like a charm.

So what i was getting at about the two front 10mm bleeder screws, the driver side was a little worn, but i still ablle to open it up using a 10mm box end wrench, but i decided to replace them both anyways. I went to a local autozone and got the correct dorman replacements, for front calipers only, came in pairs, m10x1.5x30mm, fit perfectly. After the bleeding process was done and the bleeder screw tightend, i noticed slight fluid staining around the top side of the threads that enter the caliper, and it wouldnt stop no matter how much i tightened the bleeder screw, my guess is the tip of the bleeder screws are too broad and not conical enough to seal the flat or tapered hole inside the caliper correctly. So the only remedy is to use either teflon tape, of which i dont care for in this instance, so i chose to use the teflon sealant version on the upper part of the threads away from the bleeder hole, now sealed good, and no more leaks.

EDIT: before teflon paste(pic1), after teflon paste(pic2)

That video is definately good for thought.

I just bought a brand new ACDELCO master cylinder for the malibu, install it, then flush/bleed the entire brake system with new dot3 fluid.

I'll see how the brakes feel afterwards on the road, the power brake booster, shoes, drums, pads and rotors are all in good shape, then after all is said and done, i'll replace the rear brake hose along with both front brake hoses for the front, thankfully they are all still availabe brand new from acdelco.