Some people might think that getting a brand new winch or a suspension lift are the best things your Jeep has. If you start to think about it, none of those can stop an accident from happening.
Others might think tires are the most essential part of the vehicle. While they are very important, they are, after all, just a bunch of rubber that is between your vehicle and the road. Learning how to bench bleed the master cylinder on a Jeep is a great way to save time and money.
What Is The Most Important Part Of The Jeep?
The most important part of the Jeep is the brake system. There is nothing else in the vehicle that’s going to prevent you from stopping from smashing into that vehicle in front of you when a red light hits. Or, if you’re doing some off-roading one day and happen to hit a slope that’s a little steeper than you might like, the brakes are what is going to stop you and your Jeep from getting damaged.
This might lead you to keep up the maintenance on your Jeep the next time that pesky brake light pops up on your dash. When the brake light does pop up, the first thing you’ll want to do is take a look at the master cylinder.
Before you jump to the internet and start Googling how to bench bleed the master cylinder or changing the master cylinder on a Jeep, it’s important to gain some knowledge of what they even are.
What Are They?
Just like we have a heart that keeps blood pumping through our body, the Jeeps master cylinder is the heart of the vehicle’s brake system. It serves a variety of different functions:
- It contains the vehicle’s brake fluid.
- It generates hydraulic pressure and then gives the front and rear brakes that pressure to stop the vehicle.
If something happens to the master cylinder, like a leak or a damaged seal, the whole brake system can gradually lose pressure. You don’t want something like this to happen, because then your brakes won’t work correctly.
How To Know If Your Master Cylinder Has Problems
To figure out if you have issues with your master cylinder, the fastest way is right at the brake pedal. Usually, if you press down the brake pedal, it’ll return to the same position that it started before you pressed it down. If the brake pedal sinks right into the floor and doesn’t return or is taking a long time to return, then that’s an indication that the master cylinder could be having some problems.
If you press down the brake pedal and it feels a little spongy, but you’re still able to stop the car with the brakes, then there might just be a problem with air being stuck in the brake lines. A fluid leak might also be the culprit for this. Sometimes this can make diagnosing the problem a little more difficult. It’s always recommended to do an in-depth inspection of the brake lines if there is still some pressure when you press your foot down.
If the brake pedal pushes to the floor and has no response after you remove your foot, then this indicates that the master cylinder is the main problem.
After you’ve figured out that the master cylinder is the root of the problem, you’ll want to get that part replaced. What tends to make this process a little complicated is that you can’t simply just remove the master cylinder off and pop a new one on like a set of wiper blades.
To do a proper job, you’ll have to fill the new master cylinder up with brake fluid, and then you’ll have to bleed the air that’s in it, much in the same way that you bleed the air from the brake lines of the Jeep when new brakes are put in.
Bench Bleed Master Cylinder
Bench bleeding master cylinder on a Jeep can make for a decent do it yourself project if you don’t want to sit around and waste your day sitting in a dealership and spending your hard-earned money. Bench bleeding a master cylinder yourself is not an overly complicated task, and changing the master cylinder on your Jeep will also have you feeling accomplished at the end of the day. If you really want to make the process simple, you can purchase a master cylinders bleed kit, look at the provided instructions on how to bleed brake master cylinder, and then be on your way. A bench bleed kit will also expedite the process if you don’t have all of the required tools handy.
Steps To Bench Bleeding Master Cylinder
- Take the master cylinder and put it in a vise by its mounting ears, not by its body.
- After the master cylinder is held in place, get a few pieces of brake lines that are around 18-inches. Attach the brake lines to the front and port fittings. Bench bleeding kits come with these lines, fittings, and a clip.
- Ensure that the lines are arranged in a way so that the non-fitted ends are inserted into the top reservoir opening on each side of the wall. The retainer clip is handy for this part of the process.
- Take a quick look at your owner’s manual for the correct brake fluid to use. Pop open the seal and then add brake fluid into the reservoir until it reaches the top. Ensure that the brake lines are in the fluid. The brake lines need to be submerged in the brake fluid for the entirety of the brake bleeding.
- At this point, you want to push in the piston and then release it. Do this a couple of times. You’ll begin to see brake fluid moving its way through the brake lines and up into the reservoir. You might also notice some bubbles.
- Keep on pressing and releasing until you no longer see any air bubbles present in the brake fluid. This may take a few times until the air bubbles start to fully dissipate.
- After the air bubbles are completely gone, and you only see brake fluid flowing through the lines, you can then put the master cylinder back in the Jeep. Ensure not to let any excess brake fluid come in contact with the paint on the Jeep as it can be corrosive. Have some shop towels handy to prevent any issues from occurring.
The bench bleed of the master cylinder on a Jeep doesn’t have to be a painstaking process. The satisfaction in knowing you were able to bleed master cylinder without having to get someone else to do it will be worth it.