Proper brake bleeding procedure on 512TR

So far I have been successful with gravity feed.
Its slow but it works and I dont need a second person and I dont need to keep jumping into the cockpit.

P

 

A Motive Power bleed works great...I've been them on Ferrari's and all the German cars I service for years! No problems and a standard BMW/Audi cap adapter works on 99% of the Ferrari's.

 

I built one that is just like the Motive and it works very well.

I bled the front's then the rears, then the clutch. To bleed it all out, I used about 3.5 cans of ATE 2000. The only issue is that YOU MUST KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE LEVEL IN THE PRESSURE TANK! With the clutch it can bleed pretty quick, and the next thing you know you sucked the fluid out of the tank, and blew air in the line.

Adam

 

IF you have ABS, then your ignition needs to be on (engine off is fine, but ignition on) during the bleed so that the ABS pump can move the old fluid out and the new fluid in.

Generically, you check the Master reservoir's fluid level and fill to the top line, then turn on the ignition, then re-check the fluid level and fill to the top line if needed. At this point you connect your el cheapo Motive power bleeder (I love mine!) to the fill reservoir, insure that it has plenty of brake/clutch fluid in it, then pump it up to 10 PSI.

With the ignition still on you bleed the rear calipers from all bleed nipples (many have more than one, depending on the car), then the front calipers, then you stick your head under the Master fill reservoir and if it has one or more bleed nipples you bleed from there.

Check periodically that your Motive power bleeder still has plenty of brake fluid in it and that it is maintaining 10 PSI. Turn off your ignition and bleed the clutch (yes! bleed the *clutch* because it shares your same Master fill reservoir).

Now slowly let the air out of the Motive power bleeder, then disconnect it from your fill reservoir and reinstall the cap onto said Master reservoir.

NOTE: for my 348 I have to sometimes pump the brake pedal a few times to activate the ABS pump and get the first caliper's bleed nipple to flow, even with the Motive hooked up to the fill reservoir. No big deal, and your mileage may vary.

Bonus points if you place some rags beneath the Master in case of any overflow during the process.

Double bonus points if you use a different colored brake fluid so that you can see the new color come out of each caliper before you finish each bleed.

All in all it's an easy one-man job. Very satisfying (to me, at least).