Rear braking circuit

[Stempy]

A couple of questions here. I have some niggling suspension and brake problems on my V6 Xantia which I am slowly getting round to sorting out. I changed the anti sink sphere not too long ago, but just recently I seem to have all the symtoms of air/gas in the braking circuit.

1, Is there anyeasy way to tell if an anti sink sphere has ruptured or has gone flat? If the sphere was flat would the rear end sink down quickly as on early Xantias?

2, How do you guys bleed the rear brakes effectively, as it always seems to be a slow and tedious process. If the car is up on a jack then there's no pressure to the rear brakes, what's the easiest way around this? Is it as simple as putting axle stands under the rear arms and letting the jack down?

[Mandrake]

Bleeding process:

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=18797

Regards,
Simon

[AndersDK]

Bleeding the rear brakes :
Have suspension on highest height setting, then clamp something heavy on the brake pedal.
When you lift the rear wheels off ground - there will be no load on the suspension - no pressure in the suspension cylinders - and hence no feed pressure to the rear brakes.
The highest setting bypasses the automatic heigh regulation and forces the suspension cylinders out solid against their end stops no matter any load - no matter wheels on/off ground. Therefore you have full pressure in the rear suspension circuit - and hence full feed pressure to the rear brakes.

You will need the engine idle to have the pump keep up the hydraulic pressure - as it slowly disappears with your bleeding process. The accumulator sphere can not keep up with such a "long-time and heavy braking"

PS : love your avatar (and your dentist )

[Stempy]

Thanks guys, I knew there would be a simple answer to bleeding.

I guess the only way to tell if the anti sink sphere has blown is to remove it and see if it's full off fluid