Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Brake bleeding the easy way and a mystery

I just finished with the fastest brake bleeding session I've ever had. Years ago, I went in with my cousin on the purchase of a pressurized brake bleeder made by Motive Products. This thing makes single-man brake bleeding a breeze. You attach the hose to the brake fluid reservior, fill the jar with clean fluid and pressurize to 10psi. The you go around to each brake caliper, attach a short bleeder hose and open the bleeder screw. The pressurized container pushes fluid through the system -- no more pumping the pedal! I think the whole thing took 30 minutes, and that was twice around the car! The brake pedal now feels firm like it should.



Ok, that's the good part. Here's the mystery:

When I was running the car, I noticed that the brake lights were on. I figured that the brake light switch was on the master cylinder and the lack of fluid made the car think the brakes were on so the lights were on. Well, after the brakes were bled, I stepped on the pedal and the brake lights did not come on. Hmmm...strange. I then turned the key, expecting the fuel pump to come on. Hmmm...no fuel pump. What the heck? I know these cars have electrical gremlins but come one! Maybe it's just coincidence, but why would the fuel pump stop working after I fill the brake system? It's getting late so this little electrical puzzle will have to wait for another day.