Power Republic - The Easy Way to Bleed Tony Kart Brakes

This video takes you through the easy way to bleed your Tony Kart brakes using OTK tools and equipment.
For more information on the videos and for your go karting requirements, check us out on:
www.powerrepublic.com.au
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Leave your questions in the comments section and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

[@powerofone1645]

I think I will just go out and buy a Tony Kart and with your thorough information in these well produced videos I should be good to go. :)

[@PowerRepublic]

yeah they are awesome machines, you will love it. What class are you going to race in?

[@powerofone1645]

@@PowerRepublic I'm senior and my 13 year old son will be junior but he is in a full size kart.

[@jonathancressell]

Great video! The sound when wiping off the fluid though!

[@allemn100]

Thanks for the upload

[@stanislasdembinski4160]

Hi awesome video!! Thanks it was really helpfull. i dont understand what you say from minute 8.08 to 8.22 though... if this happens to me, do I have to bleed them ?

[@tinopimpo]

Thanks from Italy here nobody whant explain his secret great video i live about 80km to Tony kart factory but my kart is birel art

[@PowerRepublic]

Hey Tino, thanks mate, no problems, maybe I can do a bile brake video for you one day.

[@sketchyer4662]

How much is the otk pipe thing you put the break fluid in

[@ljc2051]

Awesome. Is there anyway to do this without an OTK specific bleeder kit? As in, makeshift tool

[@PowerRepublic]

Louis Cordony sure is, you can use an old tomato sauce bottle (if your in Australia) or ketchup bottle anywhere else. The one with a tapered outlet on it. Clean it out, then put the fluid in and push it into your filler plug hole. It works fine although it can be messy with the fluid spilling on the way in and out.

[@stanislasdembinski4160]

Hi! Awesome video! I have a problem though... the 2 screws of the filling point won’t move (they won’t unscrew) ! I don’t know what to do Thanks !!!

[@PowerRepublic]

Stanislas Dembinski that has happened to me before too. I would use a small steel hammer and stike the filler plugs with a pin punch or drift. I few sharp strikes with a hammer and it might help to loosen them. Otherwise you might have to get them drilled out and use a screw extractor.

[@fromairtob3612]

Great video. Just wondering where you can purchase the bleed bottle that you’ve connected to the brake caliber. Makes it easy for a single person job.

[@PowerRepublic]

You can email us through our website and we can send one to you?

[@fromairtob3612]

Power Republic that would be great. I’ll send an email today.

[@lylebrewster898]

Awesome video mate....very handy indeed. Any tips for moderating a KZ2 pedal front to back bias?

[@PowerRepublic]

Thanks Lyle, glad you enjoyed it. What I do is use mostly rear brake and then slowly dial in more and more front until I'm happy with it, too much front for a beginner makes it hard to coordinate late braking. Hope this helps.

[@lylebrewster898]

And if the driver is not a beginner?

[@PowerRepublic]

you can try it and see how you go. Try and run as much front bias as you can and still manage to the control the kart under heavy late breaking

[@juniorzambrano5202]

What if the rear calipers don’t have bleeder screws how would I bleed it

[@PowerRepublic]

Oh that’s a tough one. Does yours have cap screws ?

[@MegaherzZwei]

What do you do if there are no bleeder screws and only M5 machine screws? My kart is an old Righetti Ridolfi Gold Firefox 125cc gearbox chassis, and all of the calipers have only M5 machine screws for the bleeder screws so I can't really attach a hose there. Also, the master cylinder has no separate cup reservoirs on top like this Tonykart.

[@PowerRepublic]

MegaherzZwei Okay, not having seen your kart I will assume it is similar to the Tony Kart BSM-BS2 system with no bleed nipple. In that case I follow the same steps with the brake bleeder system and fluid, pump and hold the pedal with the bleed screw removed. Then blank the hole on the caliper off with my finger while I release the pressure off the brake pedal. I use my finger to block off the Bleed Screw hole until I have he system almost perfect. Then I put the screw back in the caliper almost until it's tight, and use the ol pump, lock, release method as in the video. Hope this helps. Ps. Don't worry if you don't have the self adjusting brakes.

[@flywheelf1]

Brilliant video - as are the others that you guys have put up. Are you able to advise how you bleed a Tonykart handbrake lever? I know that this is normally used for front brakes but I’m trying to set a kart up for a disabled guy whose left leg is not up to using a footbrake pedal well enough and I’m trying to use the steering wheel mounted handbrake to operate he rear calliper?

[@PowerRepublic]

Hi Norman, thanks for the positive feedback. Yes, I would use the front brake reservoir as the gravity feed and use the hand lever to add pressure to the system. Then with the pressure on the lever, crack the bleed nipple on the brake caliber and depress the lever fully. Keep the hand lever full depressed and do the bleed nipple back up. Then release the brake lever and your back to step one. Make sure you top up the reservoir each time as they only hold a small amount of fluid.

[@flywheelf1]

Great response - much appreciated. I'll try the method you suggest. The kart was donated by a friend and is an old Tonykart Extreme and I'm pretty sure the calliper is not a Tonykart item and has bleed screws rather than nipples which makes things a little more messy but I imagine they're OK to use as I can't find M5 threaded nipples to replace them. Am I right in thinking that only Dot 5 brake fluid is suitable for the Tonykard lever's seals? Thanks again.

[@christianbuczko1481]

@@PowerRepublic i just screenshot that answer, saved me asking.

[@PowerRepublic]

@@flywheelf1 DOT 5.0 if your system has it already. For anything new I'm using the OTK 5.1. - if you have bleed screws and not nipples, normally the female taper isn't machined into the caliper, so retro fitting a nipple into a bleed screw hole won't seal on it's tapered face where it is supposed to. Could be a problem for you. PS, sorry for the late reply, I just saw this question.

[@adamcollingburn430]

Hey Derek, with a KZ kart - do you just repeat the steps with the rear nipple on both fronts?

[@PowerRepublic]

Hey Ad, yeah I do

[@Jeff-504]

What is the thread size needed on a bleeder for the OTK SA2 Master Cylinder?

[@PowerRepublic]

Hey Jeff, I pretty sure its a M10 X 1mm fine thread, but will have to measure it for you

[@zacky1215]

Hey do you know what brake fluid to use on a 2016 tony kart EVRR?

[@PowerRepublic]

Hi Zach, EVRR used 5.0 silicon brake fluid, which doesn't mix with other fluids. You can pull your system apart and reinstall everything with fresh 5.1 fluid if you like, but don't mix the fluids.

[@christianbuczko1481]

Any chance of a front handbrake bleed vid?? Id also like to know how i run the front brake hoses, how to clock the pipes so they arnt twisted ect. I finally mounted the hubs but those pipes are a problem, as is the steering boss bolt pattern being different from the handbrake bolt pattern. Im upgrading to the otk adjustable boss to solve that, and its only the pipes which i havnt figured out yet...

[@PowerRepublic]

Yeah I haven't got one of those yet. Maybe hold the pipes under tension first, then tighten the nut and the pipes will finish with no tension on them. I think I might have covered the front brake bleed in the KZ video series

[@christianbuczko1481]

@@PowerRepublic thanks, i will have a look for that vid. With the front pipes, im abit baffled by the t-junction having an attachment screw to secure it, but the pipes dont have slack to secure it to the kart chassie without restricting turning. As far as i can figure my kart has nothing to attach it to, and i suspect it needs attaching to the steering near where the control arms attach.

[@PowerRepublic]

@@christianbuczko1481 drill s hole in the floor tray for the mounting screw

[@shaolin224]

New to karting but not automotive repair. What procedures would be different if I need to flush the whole system with new fluid? I can see sediment coming from the reservoirs when brake is depressed. thanks

[@PowerRepublic]

shaolin224 you can pull them all a part and wash out with Methylated Spirit and replace all the seals. They are not ‘expensive’ relatively. That could be what is making the system contaminated. Otherwise you can syringe out the old fluid and then bleed through all new fluid, should take about 100-200mls Hope that helps.

[@shaolin224]

@@PowerRepublic thank you! Bought it used so trying to make it sound before giving it a proper romp around the track

[@Pepe-sb5ud]

Perfect video .... can i use brake fluid dot 5 silicone on racer 401 ?

[@PowerRepublic]

Hey Pepe, no the 401 went to the skinny brake lines and uses the 5.1 non silicon fluid. this isn't compatible with 5.0 and shouldn't be mixed.

[@Pepe-sb5ud]

Power Republic thanks a lot ... only dot 5 silicone purple colour i put not with mix .... tha brakes now have any problem?

[@PowerRepublic]

yeah the two fluids can't go together. if you have mixed them then you should pull apart the brake system and clean it all out. Then put in new fluid. I recommend you use the OTK brake Fluid DOT 5.1

[@jean-paulvanaerle3567]

Thanks for the video. Good manual. Only issue I have had is that I turned the nippels too tied after release. Now the nippel is bleeding and broken. Some tips for release the nippel (and turn it back)?

[@PowerRepublic]

Thanks for the good vibes Jean-Paul. yes that does happen some times with too much pressure on the Nipple. You will have to remove the old ane and replace it. Hopefully you haven't damaged the seat of the calliper that the nipple closes on. Use an 8mm open end ring spanner but don't hold it on the end of the spanner. Hold the shaft of the spanner in your hand so you don't have as much leverage. Good luck

[@jean-paulvanaerle3567]

Power Republic thanks for the quick reply. What a service! I Will replace it. Damaged Seat means ? Keep on the good work

[@PowerRepublic]

Jean-Paul Van Aerle the bleed nipple has a taper on it that ‘seats’ inside the caliper a with a female taper. When you over tighten the steel bleed nipple it can damage the aluminium ‘seat’ taper that it sits on. But first thing, just change the nipple and should be all sweet.

[@rikvanaerle6344]

Hi, the end of the nippel has been broken. This part is stuck. Suggestion how I can remove this? Otherwise I can’t put another one in. Thanks.

[@PowerRepublic]

Hi RIk, I would use a screw extractor (Ezi-out) to remove the old nipple. also if the brake calliper is off the kart, you can use a gas torch (like the one we use in the crankcase bearing video) to heat it up. that might make it easier to move once it cools back down. let me know how it goes

[@maxarnouts2230]

Can you bleed the system without the brake bleeder?

[@PowerRepublic]

Yeah you can do it with a syringe or an old tomato sauce squirt bottle

[@jamesc5993]

How do I completely flush the system? (I need to bleed mine but have no clue what fluid is in it and I know not to mix brake fluids)

[@PowerRepublic]

J -13 probably best to remove the system from the kart frame and do a full disassembly/reseal/reassembly/fresh fluid job. That’s is the best way while we have time for full kart maintenance

[@PowerRepublic]

They are $95 my friend

[@WheresmywingsRedBull]

Get a vacuum bleeder, way easier, and probably cheaper than Tony kart bleeder

[@PowerRepublic]

great idea