I'm working on a 1984 f-150 2wd auto w/overdrive. Recently, It has become necessary to replace the front driver's side brake caliper. I will obviously have to take the caliper off the brake hose. The Haynes book for this model recommends pluging the brake line while the caliper is off to prevent leakage of the fluid. My question is:

How do I plug the line? Is there something I can buy just for this task?

This is the first time I have done this particular repair. I have replaced brake pads before but not the caliper itself.

Thanks in advance for the help.

George

 

If you work quickly, it will not waste any more fluid when you change the caliper than if you try to cap it, them uncap it. Have a catch pan, and be ready to bolt the new caliper up as soon as the brake line is free. Letting some of the fluid run out is not a bad idea on the older trucks anyway. It would probably take 15 minutes for the master cylinder to run out completely. Just check the level after you finish! Also, check the copper washers with the new caliper. You need thick washers like the originals for the line to seal to the caliper. I just replaced lines on my 86 and the washers they included with the brake hose were too thin, causing a leak. I bought some thick washers in the "help" section by comparing the originals. I'd bet the reman calipers have thin washers in the box with them - save some trouble and find the thick ones! If they're the same thickness as the fiberboard in a cereal box, they're too thin. The originals are twice that thick.

 

Here are some friendly suggestions,

Check the state of your brake hoses during this job. If they are worn, frayed or cracked they should be replaced.

If the brake fluid has never been changed it may be a good idea to do that too, (especially if it is really dirty looking.) but bleeding the system takes some work too.

Good luck.

 

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Thanks to all who responded.

I got a new caliper and a new hose for the driver's side. I have them on now and everything is put back together. I am now ready to bleed the front brake hydraulic circuit since it was the only one I worked on. Bleeding brakes ia usually a two man job, however, in my reading in the Haynes book I came across a passage that talked about power bleeders. I gathered that these devices will make it possible for one person to bleed brakes by himself.

I am just getting back into this after being away from it for several years. Are these power bleeders a new developement? I had never heard of this before now. And, how do they work exactly?

Thanks,

George

 

A power bleeder is a tank that holds both brake fluid and slightly compressed air (15 psi or so). There's a fitting that clamps over the top of the open master cylinder resevoir. The air pressure pushes new fluid through the lines. They're great for a shop that does a lot of brakes; not so practical for a home mechanic. You're probably better off doing them by hand. They have been around quite a while.

Also --- this is important --- you will be sorely disappointed with your brake job if you only replace one caliper. I guarantee it will pull to one side or the other.

Brake shops will use a line clamp or vise grips to close the line - I'm not crazy about the idea, but they all do it.

 

Second the motion for replacing both calipers and hoses. You can bleed brakes by yourself with a spring loaded pedal jack, or wedge a 2x2 or 2x4 cut to length between the front seat and the brake pedal.

 

Agreed. Replace brakes per axle as a pair, rather than one side only. As for bleeding, it should be done at least once a year anyways. Start with the right rear, then the left rear, right front, ending with the left front. The idea is to work your way from the furthest point away from the master cylinder to the closest. This gets rid of air, and contaminents in the brake system. Brake fluid is water soluable (absorbs water) and over time this causes rust in the system, and eventually failure.

 

you can use a plastic pinch off locking plier to pinch the brake hose closed while u have the hyd. system open to keep fluid from runnin out. then u have the least amount of air to bleed out.

 

Air is not the only issue.

Running clear fluid is more important, with no air bubbles.

You can bleed the air long before clear fluid runs out a brake bleeder valve, and yet most ignore this.

ONCE AGAIN! AND PLEASE READ! Brake fluid is water soluable(It absorbs water) It NEEDS to be BLED at least ONCE a YEAR for the AVERAGE 20,000 MILE driver!

ANYone over this limit needs to do so MORE often!

Blead from your right rear(sitting in the truck, facing forward) rear tire, and work your way to the left rear, right front, left front.

IMO this should be done at least 2 times per year regardless of where you live, to keep brake fluid fresh, and keep rust and other contaminents from the braking system.

You'll all be better off if you do, brake fluid is next most neglected to power steering fluid, which most of you haven't changed, unless you had a leak in the time you've owned your truck. Likely the P/O didn't do any more.

 

Thanks to all who responded.

I am going to c/o the other caliper this weekend. I will get some help to bleed the brakes sometime next week.

Thanks,

George

 

This is easy to do but a bit hard to describe. It would almost be easier to set it up and take a pic, and then it's self-explanatory, but here it is in a thousand words or less!

A length of clear hose can be jam fit onto the bleeder and the other end placed in a bottle with a little fluid in it. I used a bottle with a cap and made a hole for the hose that held it firmly in place inside the bottle so the tip of the hose was always under the level of the fluid. The cap had a little extra notch where the hose went through to also let trapped air back out of the bottle.

I made a loop with the hose, which I held by wire so the top of the loop was above the bleeder, from there I fed it down to the bottle. What few air bubbles did escape got trapped in the upper part of this loop, instead of going up a straight hose right back into the wheel cylinder. It allowed a little bubble-free fluid to be sucked back into the cylinder with no loss of bleeding efforts.

As long as the hose remains firmly attached to the bleeder, your loop doesn't flop over and the hose end remains under fluid in the bottle, no air will enter this system from the outside.

This setup helped prevent air from being sucked back into the wheel cylinder when I pressed down the brake pedal. A 2x4 as suggested above held the pedal down while I crawled under to close the bleeder. I bled my Jeep's brakes and changed the fluid in my MGB's clutch by myself this way.

Other than the many trips down to the wheels and back up to fill fluid or dump the used, pump the pedal, and keep hose and loop where I wanted them, it worked pretty good for a near zero-cost one-man bleeder.

When my wife helped me once, the clear hose was great to actually see the bubble action, and close off the bleeder before one snuck back in. If changing out all the fluid, you can see the dirty stuff leave, followed by the fresh.

It might be tempting to pour what you've bled back into the reservior, but unless you don't care or you're doing this as a temporary emergency rescue, you can't reuse any of the fluid collected in the bottle. Sorry!

JC Whitney sells a couple hand-powered bleeders for around $40 if you want something a tad more elegant than my hacker's approach.

-Smoky

 

I wanted to let everybody know that I got the brakes bled and test drove my truck last night. Everything went great. There is no tendancy to pull to one side or the other. Thanks to all for the excellent advice.

George

 

Cool! Now that you're good and practiced up, wanna do my Jeep for me?
-Smoky

 

I'd love too except that South Dakota is a little too far away from Murfreesboro Tenn.

Good luck

George