Brake bleeding

I mentioned earlier I had some trouble bleeding the brakes. By bleeding the right front wheel cylinder, only air came out of the tube. So I figured out there must be an air leak somewhere. Yesterday I checked the complete system from master cylinder to the lines and the wheel brake cylinders. I looked up my maintenance book to figure out if there were system components I didn't know. And yes, I "overlooked"  (not the right word, because I didn't know of its existence) the air valve from the brakebooster to the carburettor. This valve did not work properly, so I washed in a jar with petrol (thanks Bert K.). After this treatment the valve couldn't be blown from the lower (carb, black color) in the upper direction (booster, white color). In the opposite way it was able to blow some air through the valve.

Bert tipped me about the master cylinder, that could hold some air too, after dismantling the system. The trick was to bleed the master cylinder only with a finger ont hte down end of the cylinder. Well that was not easy. The air was in the front lines to the front wheels, so I thougt to bleed the line to the front wheels. First the line from the master cylinder didn't come off easy, becaus it rested on the panel below the cylinder. I had to bend it a lot to get it out of the cylinder. By doing so, the oil leaked enormously (that I figured out before, so I put a piece of cardboard and a rag on the panel below), and handling wasn't quite easy between the pipes and lines in this section of the engine compartment.

Second, my wife was willing to help me, but her dinner was on the stove, so she wasn't quite focussed on my matter. So it happened that I was standing with my finger on the leaking master cylinder, waiting for my wife to push the brake pedal, while she was in the kitchen turning the easter goose. 

Today I'll be checking the wheel brake cylinders wether there's still air in it.

To be continued.

Oh, this week the ANWB (the Dutch drivers union) published a test about summer tyres and the Michelin Energy Saver Plus tyres ended seventh after the Continental Premium Contact 5 tyre. That list is going to be studied and I think my focus on the Michelins will shift to the Conti's (best) or the Vredesteins (best for good money).