207 Brake Bleeding Soft Pedal

L

LukeK_GT

Member
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Messages
64
Location
Sydney
Advice on 207 brake bleeding required as the internet is leading me astray.

I decided to paint my calipers red on my 207 HDi Lemans, and me being me, I decided I would do it properly, so all 4 callipers came off for deep cleaning, painting and baking. They should have painted them red at the factory to match the rest of the car!!!
Changed the front rotors and pads at the same time as they were due as well.

Obviously I lost all the fluid out of the car with the callipers off for 2 days and filled the system with air.

Now I am having trouble getting a firm pedal after bleeding the brakes.
I have already put over 1L of brake fluid through the car using the 2 man method.
No more air comes out, but I still have a spongey pedal. To me all PSA brake pedals are on the spongey side compared to all the JAP cars I drive, but this is notably worse than before I started.
The brakes still work, but the pedal travel required is getting old quickly.

Did not have this problem a few years back when we did the C2 when the rear callipers were removed.​

The internet is telling me that a computer with Peugeot Planet or similar needs to be connected to activate the ABS whilst bleeding to clear air in the ABS unit.
Is this correct?
 
Yes you’ve most certainly filled the esp/abs with some air a lot of non genuine tools like the ds150e Delphi can also do the bleed process


Garage C5 X7 3008 XTE
Gone but not forgotten 206 GTI 180 306 XR SED 405 MI16 x2 xzara VTS 406 SV 206 XT Berlingo 2011 (best car ever) 306 HDI 307 XSE HDI touring
Fix it right the first time
 
Try vacuum, reverse or gravity bleeding.
Here is an old mechanical fuel pump I use as a vacuum bleeder.
Can also be used for reverse bleeding.
Bleeder threads can be sealed with liquid teflon or a bead of thick paint around the nipple if having trouble with air ingress @ the bleeder.

I never pump bleed as this can cause internal issues. Primary from bottoming & secondary seal leaking from traversing crud or corrosion in the master cylinder bore.

 
Get it done professionally at a brake place.

Brakes stop you from becoming dead stopped. :(

Put it down to experience
 
@driven
Ok let me make a point because I haven't come this far in life without being "dead stopped" by avoiding "professionals" at brake places.
I have been doing brake bleeding on my MX-5 track cars for many years with no issues. At least once a year for each car. I have even fully rebuilt callipers on them. And they stop without me dying under extreme track conditions.
Not to mention all the other stuff I have pulled out and overhauled in those MX-5's.
My Dad and I have also done bleeding on a lot of our other cars with no issues encountered.
A brake place would not be my place of last resort. I have only ever gotten ridiculous quotes for simple jobs from the ones around me, hence the do it yourself attitude.
I will be going to one of the Sydney Pug/Citroen Mechanics if it comes to the point of a computer being required to activate the ABS unit.


Thanks to all other for suggestions.
Accessing the brake booster would be an arse on this car as it is deep under the scuttle tray. It is sort of a pain just to fill the reservoir. First car I have had to use a funnel!!! Accessing bolts, not fun by the looks of it.
Vacuum bleeding may be worth a shot. Pity I just sold an old used AU Falcon Fuel pump a few weeks ago. I could have adapted that to work. DOH!!! I think I have a decent hi flow pool toy inflatable pump that is reversible to vacuum I could attempt to adapt with a oil catch can.
If it is air in the ABS unit I can wait till the next service. It is not that far off anyway and I don't really want to buy any computer tools for a one of use.


I have also read on some of the UK Pug sites that a way to get air out of the ABS unit is to constantly engage ABS on a slippery road. So the bubbles should then pass further down the lines. Then pump the fluid out as you normally would.
I could have easily done it last Sunday if I took the car to the wet motorkhana at SMSP skidpan but the offer of using a BMW 3 Series I don't own with no strings attached was to good to pass up.​
I'm a bit dubious about this method, but thinking about it, it could work. Anyone here tried it?
 
I had a spongy pedal on one of my 307s.
This was an accident damaged car that I rebuilt. In the process all the left front wheel and suspension had to come out including the ABS unit which is mounted in the front left behind the plastic bumper.

When we did the rebuild, we installed new brake pads all round and new disks on the front.
I got very frustrated because it didn't matter what bleeding method I used but I just couldn't get the firm pedal I was after.

So having pumped litres of fluid through the system using the good old 2 person method I finished putting the car together and took it off for licensing.

I thought it would fail the examination due to a spongy pedal.

It passed the examination.

As for the pedal - well it was very nice and firm after a few days of running.

All that had to happen was the pads and disks had to wear in to each other!

Cheers
Roland

:banana:
 
speaksgeek said:
Also consider the master cylinder may have an air bubble stuck somewhere it wont bleed out.
You may need to crack open the outlet fittings on the master and pump gently on the pedal.
Make sure to have a towel or something to catch the fluid, and do it somewhere you can quickly rinse any brake fluid off the paint straight afterward.
Click to expand...

I know nothing about ABS, but if it had no ABS, ^ this would definitely be the problem.

And if not, then Driven's advice is what I would take :
driven said:
Get it done professionally at a brake place.

Brakes stop you from becoming dead stopped. :(

Put it down to experience
Click to expand...
 
Probably should have updated this many many months ago.
Took the car my mechanic for a changeout pf Shocks and Springs near the end ofApril.
By this time the pedal already felt a fair bit firmer.
I asked for a Vacuum or Pressure bleed but it did not happen. He seemed to think the Brakes were a normal feel as he drives a Citroen and deals with PSA vehicles daily.
He did find a loose calliper bolt on the front right and corrected that. I sort of knew it was there as I had a slight clunk feel when braking at low speeds. I know I tightened the bolts all the way(damn torx bits!!!), so very curious how it loosened in a very short period.
Anyway the bolt being tightened did not make the feel any better to me.

Ultimately the pedal feel returned to normal(for a PSA car) by itself over 2 months of driving!!!
Was the slowest I have ever had pads "bed" in. Normally I can do that on thefirst drive.


For anyone interested in what pads I used, Bendix Euro + on DBA Plain Rotors.
Yes less dust then OEM, bite is still great, just damn slow to bed in from my experience with them.
 
Last edited:
You can get a set of clamps from super cheap that gently clamp of the hose, so components can be removed without loss of fluid in the complete system ,and bleeding hassles ,pugs
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top