Saturday, May 10, 2014
How to Bleed Boat Trailer Brakes
Boating has become a popular pastime for many people. With the use of boats as a holiday, correct maintenance of the boat trailer is needed to ensure continual transportation. With the interaction with salt water, brakes on the trailer can become damaged. Contamination of the brake fluid will cause the brakes to not perform to the required standard. If this occurs, you must bleed your brakes, and replace the fluid to ensure they work correctly. This process should be carried out on a regular basis.
Instructions
- 1
Fill the master cylinder with new brake fluid.
2Insert a bleeder hose on the bleeder screw of the wheel cylinder of the furthest brake away from the master cylinder. Place the other end of the hose into a glass container of brake fluid.
3Loosen the brake bleeder screw. Have a helper depress the rod assembly with a slotted screwdriver. This will apply force to the front of the coupler case assembly, forcing out brake fluid and any air bubbles in it. Look for bubbles in the fluid in the glass container.
4Remove the hose and securely tighten the bleeder screw. Repeat the process on all of the brakes. Make sure the master cylinder does not get less than half full.
5Refill the master cylinder with brake fluid once the process is complete. Check that the brakes on your boat trailer are working correctly before continual use.
Friday, March 7, 2014
How to Race an Engine to Bleed Coolant
Racing an engine to remove air is a method used to remove bubbles of air trapped within the coolant system of an automobile after you change the coolant. In order for the thermostat to work correctly, you must purge the system of air. Otherwise, the thermostat experiences pockets of air that disrupt the heating and cooling process. If you leave this process unchecked, it could cause expensive engine damage.
Instructions
- 1
Remove the radiator cap from the filler spout on the radiator. If your vehicle does not have a radiator cap, lift the cap off the expansion tank for the radiator.
2Turn on the engine, rev it to approximately 3,000 RPM until the radiator fan turns on for a period of one minute, and then turn the vehicle off. The fan turning on is an indicator that the thermostat is in the open position, circulating the coolant through the engine. The air goes to the least path of resistance. In the coolant system, that is the hole in the filler spout.
3Check the fluid level in the radiator. The level should be slightly lower than normal. Fill the fluid to within an inch of the top of the spout.
4Repeat step two and three a second time and then place the cap back on the radiator.