depressed brake w/ front wheel removed

being the mechanical genius i am i did this two weekends ago and guess what happened. i read not to in the manual when i was ready to put the wheel back on and couldn't. my girlfiends uncle happened to be driving by and he seperated the brake by wedging a screwdriver and another metal tool betwen the back plate and the pad and banging it out. took a bit and might not be the best way to go about this-

anyway before he came by i was going to try and take the caliper off, and removed the union bolt at the end of the hose to begin. most of the fluid came out. the wheels on now but the brake doesn't work/depress of course. do i just need to bleed it or is there more to it than that?

thanks - nathan

 

Needs bleeding and also check the fluid level in the master cylinder. Since some spilled out it may be low. Add some dot 3 or 4.

 

yep bleed....

 

If you don't have them, now would also be a good time to install those braided stainless brake lines too.

 

I have them on my 86 Max and I love them.

 

Instead of 'wedging' and 'banging' on the brakes, I've used C-clamps to press the calipers back. It's easier if you open one of the bleed screws when you do this - being careful not to let air into the system, of course.

 

thanks all. i'll bleed and check the master cylindar. i think its about empty. don't have a c-clamp(s) - was going to get one but he just ended up starting to 'bang' and got it...

take care

 

If the master was allowed to go empty, it can be a real bear to get the bleeding started. Getting some suction on the caliper end of things with a tool like the MityVac (google it if you need to) helps speed the process along.

I did't use a MityVac b/c there weren't any in stock around me, so I rigged up two vinyl lines going into a sealed jar with a little fluid in it. One line was high in the jar above the fluid, the other low, down in it. The low line went to the bleeder valve. I applied suction to the other line with a turkey baster bulb.

HTH.