Ok, does the car need to be running or not while bleeding the brakes ('82 Z)???

Thanks...

Carl

 

Negatory home skillet. Do it w/ the car off.

 

ive tried it both with my car on and car off i find it alot better with the car on because of the pressure the master brake cylendar needs.. every bodys differant thou.. as for me i run the car , and gravity bleed the rears then the fronts..

 

2 conflicting answers. fantastic...

 

There is no need to bleed brakes w/ the engine running. If you can push the pedal in all the way, it doesn't matter. The brake booster was designed to make braking easier when driving, so you don't have to slam your foot down to make the pads grab. When a car is moving (especially FAST) it takes a lot of power to slow it down quickly... hence the brake booster's job.

In otherwords... it doesn't make a-lick-a-difference (in bleeding) if the car is running or not. If you were super weak & couldn't push the pedal to the floor, then by all means, start the engine to help you. But a running engine won't get the air pockets out of the line any quicker that the engine being off.

WHEW!

EDIT... but if you feel the desire to waste fuel, increase the risk of being burned, or run over by your car... then you can do it with the car running. Just making my point.

 

What he said ^
It REALLY doesnt matter because what happens when you pump your brakes with the car on? The same thing that happens when the car is off: you build pressure

 

Thanks, guys!!

 

i've always done it with engine off--but i have seen it done the expensive way--gas costs a lot, now--it was only 25 cents/gallon back then, so, .........

 

NEITHER!

Because you are going to GRAVITY bleed them like we talked about before!!!!

 

Well I spent 7 plus hours yesterday on my brakes, and replacing more wheel studs, and lugs. I am going to have to rebleed them again. I did try and gravity bleed, after I put new pads on all four wheels. But it seems to be a little less travel to the floor. Figured I would post my brake job. Since it is pretty much on the thread topic.

 

If you have someone to pump the pedal while you bleed, doing the 280zx lines should only take a couple minutes each side. Remember to blead the master cylinder too. You can bleed the calipers all day long & get crappy results if there is an air bubble @ the master.

 

Gravity bleeding wont work in all cases. Air can get trapped in the lines. I always use a little pressure bleeding when I remove a section of the braking system to work any air down to the calipers. I then gravity bleed as a final touch to let rest of the air work it's way out. And like Nismo said, you may need to bleed your master cylinder. If you've got air in there then it doesnt' matter how much you bleed the lines.

 

Yeah J, I did gravity bleed the master cylinder yesterday. My brakes are a lot better now. Not exactly where they should be, but much better. My Z stops pretty good now. And the pedal doesn't travel as much. So I would say it is about normal now.

 

Is the master cylinder new (or reman'd) ? If so its supposed to be bench bled before installation to ensure all the air gets out of it.

 

What happened to your wheel studs that you needed to replace them? While getting replacements, did your supplier happen to have rear wheel studs that are slightly longer (maybe 1/4-3/3" longer) than stock? If so, I've seriously been looking for some everywhere. ^^

 

Are you talking about wheel studs (bolts) or wheel lugnuts. The wheel bolts, are easy to aquire at my local Autozone here. If it is the lugnuts, you are asking, no dice. You have to go either Motorsport Auto, or the dealer. And they are between 5 and 6 dollars a piece. NO WAY I am paying that much for friggin' lugnuts. I took the bolts and lugnuts, off of my '81 the day I did the brakes. Considering my '82 is my only running legal car right now. And I didn't have much of a choice.

As to what happened to my wheel studs, they messed them up at Discount. But not a big deal. I think it was because I didn't have the right lugnuts. The turbo swatzi wheels, require an acorn style shorter nut. While as the 6 spoke, you can use the longer lugnut. Hope that clears it up for you, let me know, if you need any more info on this.