Hello, John Talley here with partzilla.com.
Today I'm going to show you how to bleed the brakes on our 2005 Honda VTX 1800.
Pretty simple procedure.
A couple of things you need to keep track of: one, you want to make sure you keep your
reservoir full so you don't introduce any air into the system.
Second, to keep air from backing up you need to close and release your valve at the right
time as you're keeping pressure on the master cylinder.
Really, that's about it.
So let me go grab a couple of tools and I'll show you how to get it done.
Alright let's go through some of the tools you're going to need to get this little project
done.
You're going to need an eight and a ten mm wrench, a regular set of pliers, a good Phillips,
a pick tool, some type of container for the brake fluid to go into, and then a length
of hose to connect to your bleeder valves.
That's really all you're going to need to get this done.
Alright guys, before we get started, something about brake fluid-- it is extremely caustic.
It does not like paint at all.
So before you get going with this, you want to make sure you cover up your fuel tank because
this is right over-- and I don't care how careful you are, chances are you're probably
going to have a little bit drip out and we don't want it to get on the paint whatsoever.
So with that covered up, let's go ahead and pull this upper reservoir cover and we're
going to go ahead and top it off.
Alright, you've got the outer cover, and then a plastic piece, and then below that there's
a rubber diaphragm.
Told you it would spill.
There.
Then you've got this little piece of Styrofoam they've got floating in here.
Alright, looking at the fluid from up top, I can tell it's been in there for a while
because this is awfully dark, and I think once we pump it out we're going to see a steady
stream.
So we're going to really bleed this one and try to flush all of this fluid out.
Alright, let's go ahead and get this thing started.
Go ahead and get your dust cap off.
8mm down here, then just a length of tubing.
I believe this is around 1/4 inch-- maybe 3/16.
And then just a glass or some type of container to let it flush into.
Alright, what you want to do is pump it up, hold, and as you release the valve down here
it's going to force fluid out.
Alright now you want to close it, pump it back up, hold, open the valve, and then close
it.
And just repeat that over and over again.
See how dark that fluid is?
That has been in there for a good while.
Because I can show you, pouring regular fluid that is new-- see how clear that looks compared
to the stuff that's coming out of there?
This fluid has been in there for a good while.
Alright, this is a pretty time-consuming process.
They make a vacuum system where all you would have to do is hook up the Mighty Vac down
here, open the valve, and then it would just pull it through.
That's the easier way to do it, but today we're going to do it using just the manual
way.
While you're doing this you want to make sure you're keeping an eye on your level.
Because what you don't want to have happen is have air get in here.
that way if it did, you'd have to flush it all the way back out.
There's actually a bleed screw on each brake caliper.
we're going to keep going just on this side until it starts to look clear, and then we're
going to switch over to the other side and continue.
The reason it's important to do this every do often is when you really start using your
brakes hard you build up a lot of heat in your calipers.
Of course it's pressing in on those brake pads onto your rotor.
So it's keeping heat trapped in there and over time, that constant heat cycling the
same fluid over and over again will cause it to break down.
So it's important that you do this every so often so you get, in effect, fresh fluid down
in your caliper.
Alright, that's finally starting to clear up a little bit now.
So we're going to refill it and then switch over to the other side.
Alright, let's hop over and do our left side.
And you'll notice that our bleed valve-- the upper one-- which is the one we're working
with is a different size.
It's an eight on the other side and a ten on here.
These other bleed valves?
They're actually there for when you bleed the rear brakes because this machine has what
they call a linked system to where the rear brakes actually actuate a little bit toward
the front so you get an even brake by just using the rear brake pedal.
All we're concerned with is just bleeding the front right now and that'll only involve
this upper bleed screw.
But basically it's the same thing we were doing on the other side.
Pump it up, hold, release it, close.
So same game.
It shouldn't take as long to get some clear fluid of clear-ish fluid in there.
And it's already starting to clear up.
Alright, that ought to get us.
We're looking a lot more clear than when we started.
Make sure that's snug.
And pull it off, let the rest of it drain into the cup.
And you just need to replace that dust cover.
Alright we've got our front section flushed out, and the only thing we need to do now
to complete it is just refill to the correct level.
And what you're going to want is about two-thirds way up on the sight glass.
Alright, it's important here to note that I have new brake pads on this machine, and
if they were worn down you would not want to go any further than this.
Especially you wouldn't want to fill it all the way up because when you went to replace
your brake pads you'd be forcing fluid back up and it would overflow this reservoir.
So, about two thirds is about where you want it.
I know that I've got new brake pads on this machine so I can go ahead and leave it there.
Next, put this little piece of styrofoam back in, then our diaphragm, the plastic plate,
and then our cover.
Alright, that completes the front part of our brake system, but we're not quite done
yet.
Like I'd mentioned earlier, this particular machine has what they call a linked system
to where it's got the rear brake master cylinder connected to the front as well.
So what we need to do now is start bleeding the brakes on the rear and where you actually
start that is up on the front left caliper.
You'll notice right here that there's another bleeder valve.
Alright, that is meant for the rear portion of the braking system.
So, go ahead and get that on there with our hose, and we're just going to leave that still
in our cup.
Alright, the trick is here, now we need to check the reservoir for the rear master cylinder.
Alright, so this where your rear master is.
Make sure you get that cap put together correctly.
And we want to go ahead and fill it up and start getting the rear bled.
Basically the same thing as the front.
What we're going to do is pump it up, release the valve, close, and just keep going.
Now the reason I chose this one over here is it's the furthest away from the master.
So we're starting here and we're going to work our way back to the rear caliper.
Let's go ahead and refill and then we'll keep going.
Alright, let's switch sides and do our front right.
Alright, we've got it topped back off on our reservoir.
Let's go ahead and reconnect the hose to the lower bleed valve on our front right caliper.
Because remember when we were doing the front we were up here.
Now we're working on the rear and we're down right there.
Same procedure, just keep going.
Go ahead and refill.
Close that valve off all the way.
Now, we can finally move to the rear caliper and get it bled.
Don't forget to cover up your bleed valve there.
So let's move to the back.
Alright, let's get this dust cover off, get our wrench on, go ahead and get our hose in
place, and continue.
Pump up, open, close, and repeat.
Already starting to look clear again.
We're down to the bottom.
Let's refill it one more time, flush it through and then we can get the final level set.
And that ought to get it.
Put your dust cap back on.
Alright, next we just need to set our level.
We're sitting about right here and the lower level.
That's your upper.
I usually like to go just a little bit below it.
We do have on new brake pads so I can go all the way up to the upper level if I wanted.
But this gives you more than enough reservoir to compensate the brake pads wearing, so that's
basically what this reservoir is for.
Alright, with that filled back up, don't forget your little diaphragm in there, and just get
that back hand-tightened.
Well alright guys, that pretty much wraps this one up for this particular machine.
It was very important that you did the front and read together or at the same time because
they are linked, and you really won't get fresh fluid in there unless you do that.
Speaking of fluid, if you need some of this DOT brake fluid come see us at partzilla.com
and we can get you taken care of.
If you have any questions or comments just leave them in the section below and I'll do
my best to answer them.
And until next time we just want to say thanks for watching.