I had a hard time bleeding the brakes on my 2006 X-Type. I tried pumping the brakes for hours on end, tube in a submerged bottle, suction at the caliper and combinations of those. Just could not get a hard peddle and/or fluid out of the calipers. I found info here and there that helped but I wanted to put it all together what finally worked for me.

I finally purchased a pressure bleeder that fits over the cap of the reservoir - figuring that pushing the fluid down might work. The kit said 15 psi should do it and don't go over 20 unless otherwise stated by the manufacturer. I first bled the MC by opening up the two valves until no more air came out. I then moved to the ABS HUB and bled the two MC inputs then the 4 outputs (opened for a bit one at a time until I knew no air was coming out - all fluid). When I went down to the calipers I wasn't getting any fluid anymore. Partially due to 2 nipples out of the 4 seemed to be plugged up and 15 psi was not enough for the others. The dealer unofficially said you could go up to 30 psi but he couldn't officially sanction it. I went up to 25 psi and finally got some good fluid movement through the calipers. The clogged nipples I just took off completely and let run for a few seconds then put back on - the moving fluid should have prevented any air from getting in while screwing it back on. Oh the order I went was PR, DR, PF, DF. Good as new now.

Hope that saves someone the headache that I went through for days. BTW the dealer said the ABS HUB should not inhibit the bleeding in anyway - I suspected perhaps that was part of my problem but apparently was not. Also I pumped the MC for so long and so many times to the floor that I eventually thought I damaged the MC since I could not get the pedal to harden. That was not the case - just stuck air in the system. Good luck!

 

Welcome to the forum PinkFlamingo,

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Graham

 

@ PinkFlamingo

Thanks for the input and tips.

I have the same pressure cap bleeder which I'm planning to use during this job. Basically, you did not need to bleed the ABS Hub nor the MC but you did that either ways, correct? I'm not willing to go that way and only bleed the calipers using the cap bleeder.

Thanks

 

Hi I'm going to echo PinkFlamingo here and I think a professional pressure bleeding kit is a must have for most cars....although Gunson do a DIY kit that I've heard good things about.
I changed the brake fluid on my X type for new dot 4 fluid after fitting a new driveshaft the other day as I noticed the old fluid was black and cloudy.
I've also done many many fords/rovers/BMW's/Mercedes/Suzuki's/Citroen's etc.. with my pressure bleeder, and have also found that 20-25psi works well with the fords and unsurprisingly the X type as well ..so you're experience is imho normal.
If you have drained the fluid completely and cant seem to bleed the brakes to a rock hard pedal ...like after changing the ABS pump or master cylinder, it can help to gently pump the brake pedal when pushing fluid through each corner ....don't pump the pedal fast ,you don't want to invert the seals in the master cylinder which can happen in some cars ...helps to reduce trapped bubbles.
providing you don't come across any seized nipples it should take no longer than 30mins once wheels are off.... when doing a fluid change I like to push at least 1/2 pint through each corner on the first change from then on 1/8 pint will do after each pad /disk change..I use this rule on every car -mine or someone else's and so far its worked 100%.
The X type is a nice easy car to bleed .... unlike my wife's Citroen where I have to plug in my dealer interface and run the ABS pump at the same time as pushing fluid through the system...french cars are a pita.

I do also have a professional vacuum bleeder but I have found it to be not as successful on most braking systems.

 

I guess I don't know the answer to that question 100%. Definitely the MC in my case because I had let the lines run dry overnight and the fluid was low the next day. I believe the dealer stated the ABS should not get in your way of bleeding and so I take that as you don't need to bleed the ABS.