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MG MGA - Any ideas?

I am having a bit of a problem bleeding my brakes and wondered if anyone could throw any light on the problem - I have checked the archives and have done all I can think of. I am using an Ezeebleed kit, and everything is working as it should. I have now put about 3 litres of fluid through the thing and there is no evidence of air coming out. I have also pressed the pedal a number of times on each wheel while the Ezeebleed is in action, trying to force out any air. It is better now but still not right, I can still 'pump' the pedal which gets it hard, only for it to go softer after a while, which indicates that air must still be present somewhere in the system.

Phil Parmenter
Phil Parmenter

Hi Phil. Try adjusting the brake drums to take up any slack between the shoes and brake drums, then try bleeding again. This can sometimes help purge air. Cheers, Glenn
Glenn

Thanks Glenn,
Yes the brakes are adjusted up, I'm just about to have my 4th attempt at bleeding but I can't really do any more than I've already done.
All the best,
Phil
Phil Parmenter

Having never used an easibleed I can not comment on problems that may occur in its use. However I have bled brakes the same way as Abingdon did for many years without problems.

If the basics are right then achieving a perfect pedal should only take a couple of minutes work for you and a friend.

The master cylinder needs to function correctly. That means the piston must FULLY return to beyond the vent/fill hole in the cylinder bore.
The pistons need to be fully in within the rear wheel cylinders to avoid trapping air within the cylinder. This is achieved by ensuring the back brakes are fully adjusted up.

Finally the bleed nipples should be on top of the front calipers, I am not 100 percent certain about the MGA but many other vehicles it is possible to install the calipers on the wrong side wheel and find that the nipple is then at the bottom and preventing a good bleed.
Bob (robert) yes Y8 is toast again :)

Yes, the MGA calipers can be installed on the wrongside wheel thus putting the bleed nipple at the bottom. Mine was that way until I fixed it.
David Holmes

If you can pump the pedal up until it is hard and then it goes soft without releasing may mean your master cylinder is bypassing fluid internally.

Something I have found to help get the stubborn air out is to have someone pump the pedal up hard and then hold full pressure on it, open the bleed nipple until the pedal hits the floor. You will get a rush of fluid do to the pressure on the pedal, I have found this to really help getting out the hard to get air bubbles.
John H

I have just been trying to bleed the air out of a friends Jag XK brakes and we couldn't get rid of the air - so he had a trick you may like to try. He put a clamp on the flexible linking the rear brakes just by the back axle -bleeding the front brakes resulted in a good pedal so indicating that the problem was with the rear brake cylinders somewhere - in fact a leaking thread on the banjo - this could be done on the front flexibles to isolate each brake - cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

This thread was discussed between 21/04/2007 and 22/04/2007

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