Got a 2005 Mazda6i, 5-door Hatch with Auto Transmission and ABS. I've got that squishy brake pedal problem and am trying to bleed the brakes. I bought a one-man bleeder kit from Harbor Freight (aka: HF Bleeder).

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92474

Started by verifying the Master Cylinder was full and left off the cap. Removed the right rear wheel and where the brake line enters the caliper is a 12mm flat-head bolt. Next to it is a small rubber cap. I removed the cap and exposed the nipple, which I presume is where brake fluid exits during the bleeding process. I attached the HF Bleeder to the nipple and applied 15mmHg of negative (sucking) pressure to the in-line reservoir. Then opened the 12mm bolt. A few drops of brake fluid leaked from the bolt, but nothing got sucked into the reservoir. Harbor Freight was of no help.

Is that metal nipple where fluid is supposed to drain from?

Thanks in advance,
Keven

 

turn the nipple and try again. you don't need to turn the banjo bolts that hold the lines down.

 

Ah, Harbor Freight... the Dollar Store of the tool world. Be VERY careful what you buy there. Most of what they have is cheap Taiwanese/Chinese junk.
Personally, I've had better luck using a setup like this one....


... or simply an old peanut butter jar with a hose submersed in about an inch of new fluid. Yes, it does involve operating the brake pedal which takes a little longer, but it works.

Perhaps you simply didn't open the bleeder enough to allow for unrestricted flow?

 

Well, if you read the post, the bleeder never got opened. The banjo bolt that goes into the caliper got opened, but the nipple never got turned to open the bleeder.

Just turn the nipple after you apply negative pressure and it will open the bleeder to let out fluid.

I'm a bit of a tightwad, so I like harbor freight for certain tools. I buy pencil torches in bulk there because you can get them for about a dollar each as opposed to the 15-20 dollars that I would spend on a just as crappy one from wal-mart or the 30 that I would spend at home depot for a decent one. A good place to get throw-away tools.

Personally, I don't use a bleeder either. I use a coke bottle and a short length of hose in the same way that you use the peanut butter jar. It goes quick if my wife is around to pump the brakes for me.

 

Ah-ha! Well, in my defense which I need a lot of () it WAS only 4:46AM when I wrote that, but read it as if he had opened both.
Yes, any clean, empty bottle will do, and it does go faster if you don't have to run to check the master cyl, to the wheel being bled, to the brake pedal.
If you are bleeding a clean, clear system to start with, you can just put enough DOT3 in the bottle to submerge the hose, open the bleeder valve and have at it with the brake pedal... slowly, of course. The air will bubble out into the bottle and new fluid will be drawn in in its place. But I generally don't recommend this procedure for anything but a completely clean, fresh system to start with.
I had to do this once when my car was up on a lift, and my "helper" disappeared. Worked like a charm!!