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Just bled my brakes


gthorpe

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I followed the procedure by Dana Hager & Charles Gilman which was well written and easy to follow. It was my first time and took aboiut 5 hours total. This was on my 2004 R1150RT which I bought used and am not sure if the original owner had it done or not.

 

A few observations:

 

The old fluid in the front calipers and control circuit was dark brown. The fluid from the rear caliper was not as dark while the fluid from the rear control circuit was clear as new. Is this normal ?

 

Also, I was very careful about keeping the brake fluid off painted surfaces and stopped to rinse off the areas brake fluid splashed onto. However, when bleeding the front circuit some fluid splashed on the plastic dash panel which I didn't notice until later when the plastic turned a hazy white Hopefully someone has done this and figured out a way to fix it.

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I followed the procedure by Dana Hager & Charles Gilman which was well written and easy to follow.

 

Can you provide the link to this procedure? Thanks.

 

Sorry I can't provide any help on your discoloration problem.

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Used the same prodecure my self, sorta. I have a vacuum continer that I built a while back and used it to suck the fluid out the bleed points. While carefully filling the approiate resovior.

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Anton, Wow what can't WD40 do ! I tried it and it looks much better.

 

Brake fluid not only eats paint but will attack certain types of plastic, the dash panal for sure. The turkey baster tube I used to suck out the old fluid was all clouded up the next day. No telling what else so I need to be extra careful next time.

 

Another key take away is to buy speed bleeders at least for the front calipers, otherwise its a two person job.

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Anton, Wow what can't WD40 do ! I tried it and it looks much better.

 

Brake fluid not only eats paint but will attack certain types of plastic, the dash panal for sure. The turkey baster tube I used to suck out the old fluid was all clouded up the next day. No telling what else so I need to be extra careful next time.

 

Another key take away is to buy speed bleeders at least for the front calipers, otherwise its a two person job.

 

Let us know how that holds up! WD-40 tends to dry out eventually.

 

Nice to have an at least temporary fix though! :thumbsup:

 

Jim :Cool:

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Another key take away is to buy speed bleeders at least for the front calipers, otherwise its a two person job.

Please explain why you believe it to be a two man job or requiring speed bleeders so that we may disabuse you of the idea.

 

I bled mine last winter, and I know it was the first time the full bleed had been done- the fluid was appalling as per your description so my bet is the prior owner didn't do yours.

 

The rear control circuit on mine was also very clean by comparison, to the point where I wondered if they had replaced the reservoir or something - now I know better.

 

 

 

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Just barely crack the screw, stick a hose onto it that is into a bottle and then when you release the lever it can't suck air.

 

Or use a clamp or bungee to hold the lever until you can close the bleeder.

 

Lots of folks have issues because they loosen bleeders too much.

 

Search speed bleeders and lots of what you'll find is trouble.

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Just finished mine yesterday. It was dark brown on my '04 RT. On the point made earlier about the fluid getting on the dash panel;

 

You either MUST squeeze the front brake lever VERY slowly or fluid will squirt out of the reservior onto the dash, or set your cover on it while pumping. :dopeslap:

 

I used a speed bleeder for the clutch only. The bleed screws on my '04 combined with hose-to-bottle setup works fine.

 

Speed bleeder only needs to be open about 1/8 turn or less. Clutch is then way too easy to accomplish to not do when recommened. It was light brown after 4 years though on mine...

 

On a side note, I ordered an Alt belt to replace mine (29K miles) while I had the tank off etc and ordered the one for "7/2003 and newer". It was too short. Seems that my '04 was built in '03 right during the changeover. So, it sits and waits for the correct belt to arrive. :cry:

 

All in all, I thank the people who did the pictorial/procedure for their assist. Lord knows that the Haynes manual was not going to be sufficient.

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You either MUST squeeze the front brake lever VERY slowly or fluid will squirt out of the reservior onto the dash, or set your cover on it while pumping. :dopeslap:

 

Or as Jamie (KMG_365) taught me, just place a clean utility knife blade in the reservoir to block the spurting fluid.

When complete fish it out with a clean magnet.

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Unhofliche_Gesundheit

hi gthorp - question please. what sort of contraption did you use to seal the funnel at entry into the abs unit?

 

did you buy the expensive bmw plug and drill it out per 'hagen et gilman' , or the engine plug, or something else?

 

inquiring mind want to to know.

 

i was thinking about going to the wine making store and getting vented carboy plug (rubber plug with hole it for vapor lock).

thanks.

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You either MUST squeeze the front brake lever VERY slowly or fluid will squirt out of the reservoir onto the dash, or set your cover on it while pumping. :dopeslap:,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Old trick,,Lay a razor blade in side the reservoir over the hole and you wont have the squirt problem,,,,Just dont forget to remove the blade when finished,,, :thumbsup:

 

 

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SURE! Where where you when I had brake fluid dripping from my dash yesterday! Holding out on new utility blades and knowledge THATS where! :/

 

Naaa, I was just waiting for Tim (10ovr) to chime in & take the fall :grin:

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I used the funnel inserted into a rubber bottle stopper. Many here will have purchased a bunch from McMaster Carr. They have about 19 spares if they did. See if you can find a member that lives near you and get one of theirs.

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SURE! Where where you when I had brake fluid dripping from my dash yesterday! Holding out on new utility blades and knowledge THATS where! :/

 

Naaa, I was just waiting for Tim (10ovr) to chime in & take the fall :grin:

I did not see your post,,,I guess we both learned the trick from an old fart,, :wave:Hi jamie
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Cameron,

 

To make the adapter to fill the ABS unit I bought one of those pour spouts you use for liquor bottles and glued a small funnel to the end (you can use epoxy, it doesn't react to the brake fluid).

 

It worked pretty well and didn't leak. However the brake fluid detroyed the plastic tube on the turkey baster, it was a clear plastic (don't know what type).

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Unhofliche_Gesundheit

re: "the brake fluid detroyed the plastic tube on the turkey baster"

 

oh-oh! US thanks-giving is coming - quick buy another one before your wife notices it's been co-opted into a bwm service tool! :eek:

 

thanks for the info on the adapter. i will only need one in 2010 - but i am planning ahead! :grin: when i got the bike i did not want to break it from the get-go so had a pro do the 4 circuits and clutch and alternator belt. cost me 300 clams :dopeslap: (so you can afford the replacement baster!)

 

fyi.: turns out the manual over-estimates the frequency of fluid changes. 1 year/2 year has now been changed by bmw motorad to 2 year / 4 year for control and wheel circuits (says my indie). :clap:

 

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Cameron,

 

No worries on the Turkey Baster for Thanksgiving, we'll be eating out !

 

Its good to know the manual over estimated the fluid frequency. My bike is four years old and I'm pretty sure the previous owner didn't change it.

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