Do I need to buy a whole Shimano bleed kit to get the adaptor that fits to the caliper?

I tried another hose (part of an old Hayes bleed kit). It fitted on to the caliper but wouldn’t push any oil in, no matter how much I loosened the screw.

I bought some aquarium hose from the local pet shop and some syringes from Ebay to do mine. The funnel though is a really useful piece of kit.

It fitted on to the caliper but wouldn’t push any oil in, no matter how much I loosened the screw.

Are you sure the bleed nipple isn’t blocked?
Maybe remove it to check it’s letting fluid through.

Just a guess, but i’m reckoning your problem may be the master cylinder piston isn’t returning properly, and preventing fluid entering the reservoir. You can check this by removing the hose at the lever, and if you can then push fluid through, then you’ve found your problem.

Right,stupid question but you have opened the bleed port at the lever end yeh? Or take the plunger out whatever you have at the lever?
It’s an easy mistake and would stop oil going in to calliper

Right,stupid question but you have opened the bleed port at the lever end yeh? Or take the plunger out whatever you have at the lever?
It’s an easy mistake and would stop oil going in to caliper

Easy and annoying/expensive mistake to make as trying to push oil into the caliper with the bleed port closed off can blow the diaphragm in the master cylinder, sends a wee spurt of oil out the end of the lever which arcs across the workshop and lands right on your brand new disc that you put safely out of the way, which of course you don’t notice until you have finished the bleed and refit the wheel and attempted to bed in the new pads on a disc rotor covered in mineral oil.!  (please note, this is a theoretical scenario and in no way reflects real-life events.!, honest.!)

You then need to quickly source a new lever 2 days out from an event or pull the lever apart to super glue the diaphragm back together.!!

Thanks, yes the bleed port at the lever end was open.
I’ll try to check the bleed nipple tomorrow and try removing the hose from the lever.

Which caliper? Newer shimano have the hose attachment underneath the rubber bung on the side of the caliper and you only need to undo the Allen headed screw about half a turn before fluid will start leaking out.
Apologies if this isn’t relevant to yours.

Transporter, yes that’s it. I was trying to put the oil in the caliper end but it wouldn’t go in, no matter how much I opened the screw.

I take it that you have the shimano funnel for the lever?
Have you tried bleeding from the top down first?… With the rubber bung removed and hose pressed onto the then exposed exit hole.. Half a turn should see fluid releasing.
You seem to be having the opposite problem to what I had on one of mine haha.. The slightest turn of the Allen headed bolt allowed fluid to escape even past the threads… So much so that I needed to remove it fully and wrap the threads with ptfe tape before I could actually start the bleeding process.
Next step would be to remove the caliper from the bike and let it hang down into a jug of some sort to catch the fluid and completely remove the bleed port screw and see if there’s anything obvious that could be at fault before trying again

Bled nipple blocked with mud take it off completely and clean it out with lock wire.

Perhaps just double check that the lever you’ve attached the funnel to is actually the one that’s connected to the calliper you’re working on.

I suspect that there are a few of us that have made that mistake before!

Just a guess, but i’m reckoning your problem may be the master cylinder piston isn’t returning properly, and preventing fluid entering the reservoir.

I had an issue with one of my Zee brakes that seems to fit with this last week.

I’ve borrowed a lever from another bike and all is good.

Anything I can do with the Zee lever I’ve taken off, or is it junk now?

Can’t be mud blocking it as it’s a brand new caliper and lever (so I know it’s definitely the correct lever too!)

Currently got problems with a kitchen delivery meaning I haven’t had a chance to try any of these ideas yet.

@ chapaking, not taken one apart for years (don’t use them on my bikes, wouldn’t involve myself on customers brakes), but never had much luck just stripping and cleaning them, however, somebody on Amazon (think they’re called wtfbeusd) is selling stainless pistons,and seals for £10, so may be worth a try.

Can’t be mud blocking it as it’s a brand new caliper and lever

If you confirm it’s the lever, get it back on warranty pronto.

Coatsey – cheers, I think I’ll just get a new Deore lever for it.

For those desperate to know how I’m doing, I think I’ve fixed it but don’t know how. I took things apart and put them back together and then it seemed to work. At one point the lever was very stiff but when I pulled it hard it seems to pop like it was breaking a seal somewhere (the end of the hose?). That seemed to do the trick.