need tips for bleeding breaks

[nacnac250z]

i bought a 250x for my girl a couple months ago and cannot get a good "pedal" for the front breaks. i bled them more times than i can count. my technique is just a wrench on the bleeder, pump them up , hold the lever, break the bleeder slowly until the lever is almost to the bar. than close the bleeder, there are no leaks and there is brand new pads. they work, but no where near as good as they should be. im sure theres some tricks to it, so thats where you come in. hopefully.

[Firey400ex]

Your technique is perfect. If the "pedal" is still soft, repeat your procedure 2 or 3 times to MAKE SURE there is no air left in the brake system. Remember one thing though.........NEVER let the master cylinder resevoir get too low. If you don't keep the resevoir full, and you get air down in the system, sometimes it takes a while to get all the air out.

If you follow those instructions, and the "pedal" is still soft, your master cylinder may be bypassing (bad seal) and it would be time for a new one.

[John451]

Screw the screw on the lever that pushes on the plunger in so it pushes it more. But not so much that it keeps them on, so you should prop the front end up and spin the wheel and make sure it's not a constant apply. If that doesn't work I'd have to say that your lines are old and need to be replaced. If you want really crisp get steel braided. But those are expensive. Is it a fourtrax trx250ex? Because I have one that was in a fire and has alot of good parts. It's a 1987.

[coryatver]

this is the best directions i have found

http://www.gtthunder.com/HowTo.htm

[ride red 14]

if you keep bleeding and still can't get much try riding it for a couple hours on a trail ride. when you take a break try and bleed them again on the trail and you will find what air is left in the line. it seems to work its way to the bleeder when you ride. we have done this several times. hope this helps you.

[nacnac250z]

thanks alot guys. ive blead them so many times that the master cylinder seal sounds like i should look at it. but then again it maintains what it has so it doesnt seem like a leak to me. adjusting that screw sounds like a good idea i could get alot more out of each pump. i will try them all and let you know...thanks again

[JOEX]

If you still have some pressure but not quite enough and it's an older quad i'd say it's the lines like John451 mentioned.

[nacnac250z]

its an '88 damn thing took me 2 months to strip and rebuild haha i told her she owes me a set of Hipers.

[JOEX]

Originally posted by nacnac250z
its an '88 damn thing took me 2 months to strip and rebuild haha i told her she owes me a set of Hipers.
Should be a fair trade:p

[John451]

Originally posted by nacnac250z
its an '88 damn thing took me 2 months to strip and rebuild haha i told her she owes me a set of Hipers.

That's sweeet. I'm a guy but I would still ride that. This is my 96 trx 300ex with fmf pipe, widening kit, new seat cover, handle bars, teathered kill switch, 25" tires in rear with maxxis razrs in front (in that picture, i have 22 tires that I swap out for eachother about every week) nerf bars, new rear plastic( not in pic) and wow, there's a bunch more but i forget. O ya 400ex shocks in front. Cuttin front fenders and paintin black.

yeah breaks are a b!tch

put a zip tie on the brake lever holding it down
the loosen the bleeder screws leave it sit for about a half hour to an hour. then screw them back in an cut the zip tie an they will work like new!!! that might sound crazy but it works better then anything

[John451]

It also has to do with the weather. If it's cold for some reason they're really spongey. Well at least here with my 300ex. Im goin to steel braided front lines. That's a good tip right above mine with the zip ties. Never woulda thought of leavin it there beedin. I may even try that on my jeeps. But the adjuster screw on the plunger should help in addition to the beeding.

[cbrooks118]

Yeah its like a reverse bleeding where the air will come out at the master cylinder. It worked great on my YFZ, but i left it for like 12 hours. I was in the same situation, where i had bled them at the caliper many of times, but would still have a tiny bit of air.

[John451]

Originally posted by cbrooks118
Yeah its like a reverse bleeding where the air will come out at the master cylinder. It worked great on my YFZ, but i left it for like 12 hours. I was in the same situation, where i had bled them at the caliper many of times, but would still have a tiny bit of air.

So that means you would have to take the resvoir cap off?

[cbrooks118]

yup

Originally posted by John451
It also has to do with the weather. If it's cold for some reason they're really spongey. Well at least here with my 300ex. Im goin to steel braided front lines. That's a good tip right above mine with the zip ties. Never woulda thought of leavin it there beedin. I may even try that on my jeeps. But the adjuster screw on the plunger should help in addition to the beeding.


yeah it works tho... worked on the R lol