Opening the bleeder valve would not necessarily release caliper pressure if the hose was bad. The banjo on the caliper needs to be opened.

 

Beg to differ, go try it. Open a bleeder valve and see if you can get the caliper to hold any pressure.

 

I agree with Alloro, the bleeder on the caliper will release the pressure when opened even with a faulty brake hose. Either your bleeder was stopped up or faulty. Opening the banjo could allow air to enter the system.

 

Under normal circumstances opening the bleeder will release line and caliper pressure. However these rotors and calipers have been heated to the point of glowing red so normal rules no longer apply. Nobody who is being intellectually honest here can say with certainty exactly what is happening inside these calipers sight-unseen. The bleeder valve or the entire half of the caliper for that matter could be blocked with crud.

Bottom line is simply this - if the guy is going to remedy his situation it is pointless to leave the existing hoses in there to (ostensibly) save $35.

 

You're assuming that no fluid flowed out of the bleeder when he opened it. Yes, if no fluid flowed then you could say the bleeder was blocked and the hose are still on the culprit list. And yes, it is a good idea to change the hoses along with everything else that has to be changed. Especially considering that the brake line system has to be opened up and then bled anyway. But what we initially were try to figure out was what caused the brakes to be locked in the first place. All I said was that since he was able to relieve the pressure in the calipers by opening the bleeders and the brakes were still locked, then the hoses were not holding the pressure in there.

 

Remember that he also stated it took 5 minutes for the calipers to unlock but they eventually did release the pads. Probably a combination of things at fault here and it sounds like a real clusterf*** of a situation anyway you look at it. I can't imagine driving a vehicle against full pressure from the front brakes to the point of needing to add coolant to the engine. Stupid IMHO. In any event, if the guy just changes everything from the hard lines to the calipers (minus the spindles) the problem will undoubtedly be solved.