bleeding the line question. Rear Brake caliper installation procedure.

Hi,

I was going to change the rear pads on my 2007 FJR today, but for the life of me I could not remove one of the two bolts that keep the caliper in place. I tried everything, including drilling it and using bolt removers (I have a new bolt on hands).. Since the damn thing wasn't gonna give up, I decided to saw it up from the rear (there was a tiny gap) and detach it from the brake line to bring it inside and have better grip.

After hard work it finally gave up. I cleaned the entire assembly, greased it up and tomorrow I'll put it back on. Now comes the question. (2 actually)

Since the assembly has been removed, all the oil has dripped out of the lower end (I collected it). I might have pushed the pedal too by mistake, so I'm pretty sure it's has got air in it. I was going to bleed it tomorrow (put new fluid and let it run until it comes out of other end without letting air in from the top), I've read that it needs to be done a few times. Any thing else in particular I should be aware of?

Second question: how do I make brake fluid go into that space between the back of moving cylinder and the connecting brake line bolt? I'm talking about the reservoir that is in direct contact with the back of that cilinder that pushes the brake pads. If I connect the line and start pouring brake fluid, it'll never go in there as air will have no place to escape. Do I have to pour brake fluid in there before connecting the line?

Thank you!

I think you may want to brush up on the brake bleeding procedure in the service manual. After that, reattach the caliper to the bike with the new pads, crack open up the bleed screw on the top of the caliper, and add new brake fluid (DOT 4) to the rear brake master cylinder reservoir until you don't see any more air bubbles come out of the bleed screw. That will fill up the air gap you're concerned about. You may have to pump the rear brake pedal to pump fluid into the rear caliper.*** If so, make sure you only press down on the pedal with the bleed screw open, and then close the bleed screw before you release the brake pedal. Pump it like that 5-15 times and you should be bled.

***This assumes you haven't opened up the bleed screw on the front right caliper that's linked to the rear brakes. If so, start by bleeding that front right caliper first, then bleed the rear caliper.

Thank you! I'm reading on the manual 3-31 how to bleed the system. It says to do the front brakes first, but I haven't touched those.. Do I need to bleed them first anyway?

The right front caliper has two bleed nipples. The lower one is bled using the rear brake - linked braking system. That one should be done first; before the rear caliper. If its been awhile since the hydraulics were flushed, it would be a good idea to do the two for the front brakes and the clutch as well.