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MG MGA - Brake and Clutch Bleeding

I need to bleed my brakes and clutch after rebuilding the master cylinder.

Do you think using the Vizibleed device is a good way to do this?
It looks like a reliable system.

The rear wheel bleeding nipple is located just in front of the emergency brake cable - it looks to be difficult to reach. Is is best to remove the rear wheel with the car on a jack to get to this for bleeding? (no lift available for the car)

I am told to do the brakes in the following order:
Left rear, Right rear, Left front, Right front
(Left is American driver side)

Thanks,
Bill from Ann Arbor, Michigan


W Chandler

Bill

I will let other bleeders provide the correct info. Just intrigued by the dark bulb adjacent to the left side rear light cluster.

Nice job!

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve- That is not a bulb, but just the base of an old radio antenna that someone had put there more than 20 years ago. To remove it would leave a hole...
Bill
W Chandler

Vizibleed comes in a couple different forms, one with a bottle and one without. This one looks the simplest:
http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=31663
This should work okay for flushing fresh fluid through on old system that already has fluid installed. If the system is freshly assembled and full of air it may not work.

Speedbleeder does the same thing, but you have to be very careful to keep them covered and clean.
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/hydraulics/ht109.htm

For a dry system a pressure bleeder works best:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/tools/ts110.htm
I like the EeziBleed. With this you can set it up once, then bleed all clutch and brakes in a few minutes just by opening the bleeders and watching it spit until all air is out and fluid runs clean.

Without a pressure bleeder you can do reverse bleeding, pushing fluid into the bleed nipple to purge air backward into the master cylinder reservoir. A trigger pump oil can and bit of hose works for this, or the Mityvac hooked up in reverse.

On the MGA with shared reservoir for clutch and brakes, you can connect a hose between clutch slave bleed nipple and any brake bleed nipple, then pump the clutch to reverse bleed the brakes, or pump the brake to reverse bleed the clutch. Fluid recirculates through the reservoir, no loss of fluid, no running dry and no overflow.of the reservoir.

My least successful experience was the Mityvac used to suck on the bleed nipple. This commonly results in sucking air in past the threads of the bleed nipple with little of no progress in bleeding the lines.
Barney Gaylord

Start with wheel cylinder furthest from the master - so this will be the rear passenger side then the driver's side rear , then the passenger side front and finally the driver's side front.n I used an EeziBleed system on mine which seemed to work well but it is quicker if you have a friend to give you a hand and do it the traditional way with a plastic tube and a jam jar - just done that this afternoon with my friend's TD as the Eezibleed doesn't fit the master cylinder. Good luck and have fun!!
Cam Cunningham

Hi Bill,
I'm in Ann Arbor and can give you a hand. Throw me an e-mail and we can set something up.
John
57 MGA
58 Sprite
59 Sprite
59 Mini
king_alex(at)msn(dot)com
JR Alexander

1. Don't work under a car only supported by a jack, ever.
2. Cam's car is RHD, so "passenger side rear" equates to rear left side cylinder.
3. Eezibleed is great, Mitivac a PoS.
dominic clancy

I am an Eezibleed fan too, although if not using silicone fluid then you do need to be very careful there are no leaks in the caps etc.

Just to clarify Cam, the LH rear is furthest from the m/c in both LH and RH drive cars as the pipes run down the RHS of the car.
N McGurk

That's an interesting fact I didn't know Neil - I assumed that the LHD cars would have the hydraulics the exact opposite to the RHD - but I suppose it makes sense on the production line to keep the cars all the same except for the master cylinder/pedal position. So bleed procedure is the same for all cars. Left rear, right rear , left front, right front - Right?
Cam Cunningham

Just buy an Ezibleed on ebay.
If you are as cheap as me you will appreciate it.
It is simple and allows you to use the spare tire for pressure.
Then its a one man job. Particularly interesting if you cant get your wife to ever help you on the car, like me.

Read the instructions and make sure you push through enough fluid to get rid of all the bubbles.
Gonzalo Ramos

This thread was discussed between 03/11/2011 and 08/11/2011

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