As most of you here know, I’m essentially brand new to general vehicle maintenance and have chosen to use a 1973 F100 as my learning curve. As a result, there are quite a few basic procedures that I’m learning, so forgive me as I ask what may seem to be dumb questions and thus make a goof of myself.
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I’d like to bleed the brakes as a first step in getting my dash brake light to go off. I mashed the pedal with the master cylinder cover off to determine if I had air in the lines because of this post
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and sure enough, I had an eruption of brake fluid out of the MC. This post
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suggests that the pressure differential valve needs to be pulled on an F100 to allow successful bleeding of the brakes.
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My question is three fold:
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->1) <!--[endif]-->My crappy Haynes manual (Chilton’s is on order) suggests that the car needs to be off the ground in order to have the brakes bled; is this necessary? Also, do the wheels need to be off to bleed the brakes?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2) <!--[endif]-->My crappy Haynes manual also suggests that I construct a tool “like the one shown” in order to pull the pressure differential valve. This is a problem because there is no tool shown. Can I just use a pair of pliers to pull this valve?

3) Also, how much time should I budget for something like this? Is one hour enough?
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I’m running disc brakes in front (power brakes out of a 1979 F150) and rear drums.
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Thanks –
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Fish<o></o><o>
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(1) The goal is that the vehicle should be on fairly level ground when bleeding the brakes. Most times, the bleeder screws are accessible with the wheels still there.

(2) I myself have never seen the tool either - what I do is use a small U-terminal electrical connector to press against the raised portion of the end of the pin, then I use pliers to push the pin out and hold it in place.

(3) If everything goes smoothly, you can bleed all four wheels in under 20 minutes. However, inevitably there's an issue with air getting in somewhere that may take some time to solve, which adds time.

 

also you may want to look into a reverse bleed tool this pushes fluid through the lines from the wheel and out towards the MC pushing all the air with it this is nice becuase it becomes an easy one person job.

 

Many times the hardest part is getting the bleeders to break loose without rounding them off. Use a six point socket with a small pull handle to break them loose. An hour before, soak the bleeders with a spray of PB Blaster or some other penetrating oil to help free them.