Brake woes

[Dungman]

Bit of a frustrating one this. Car has been off the road 6 weeks or so for a few jobs - Subaru power steering conversion, new suspension, refurbed front calipers from Big Red. Steering seems great, as far as I can tell on the drive.

While the calipers were off I used a glove and cable tie to in theory prevent fluid leaking everywhere. Didn't work and returned after a few days to a large puddle. Lesson learned. So no doubt plenty air in the system.

Brakes now refitted and bled, including the master cylinder. Put nearly a litre of fluid through the system, however the pedal still goes to the floor with very little resistance. No sign of leaks.

Any suggestions appreciated. Been off the road too long now.

[ukdj]

is the fluid level going down in the reservoir?

[Dungman]

Should have said that, no fluid level is not going down

[ukdj]

you did bleed the entire system not just the fronts ?

[LongBaz]

Just had this problem. Up down Up down so many times my legs hurt, had to go to left leg. After much frustration it finally turned out to be the front off side. Put a pressure system on it (the one you tyre) to blow it threw. All good now.

[cinquecento]

Have you tried sucking fluid with a syringe attached to the bleed nipples. Keep doing this until you suck clear brake fluid with no air bubbles.

[Dungman]

Bled the whole system using an ezibleed. Fluid flowing fine with no sign of bubbles. Will have a look at the tyre kits.

Thanks

[ClassiChimi]

The brakes have two circuits so if you've not touched the rears just bleeding the fronts should work fine.
Before bleeding did you notice the level of fluid in the master cylinder, if this has dropped too low you may need to bleed the master cylinder before bleeding the brakes again.

[Bassfiendnoideawhathp]

I've had loads of EziBleeds over the years and have always found then rather fragile and fiddly - this was an absolute revelation though!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brake-and-Clutch-Fluid-B...

Absolute piece of the proverbial to use and we did my mates 996 in about 30 minutes ...

Phil

[QBee]

What I would do is load it on a trailer and take it to Mat Smith TVR.
End of my woes.
Some times it is simpler just to get a proper man in (as my ex-wife used to say, and she was never wrong )

[Aussie John]

It's a long shot but have you got the front calipers on the wrong sides with bleed nipples facing down?

[N7GTX]

Dungman said:

Should have said that, no fluid level is not going down

If after using a pressure bleeder and you still cannot get a pedal-

You released any pressure on the master cylinder seals while the front calipers were off and the fluid drained down. You may be able to recover the master cylinder. Assuming the brake hoses are braided so you cannot clamp them off?
Press the brake pedal to the floor as fast and hard as you can for as long as you can to try and get the master cylinder seals to be more effective. It might take a good few minutes.
Start the engine and let it idle to get maximum pedal travel and then begin bleeding the offside front. Open the bleed screw and again press the pedal hard and fast 5 times. Close the screw then bleed as normal. Do the nearside front next the same way followed by the offside rear and finally the nearside rear.
If you have rubber brake hoses, clamp off the 3 you are not bleeding to concentrate all the pressure to just the single bleed screw. With any luck the master cylinder will recover its sealing but you have to remember the piston will have travelled outside of its normal operating part of the cylinder.

Edited by N7GTX on Friday 17th June 02:00

[AceOfHearts]

From the sounds of it I would suspect air still in the master cylinder. I had this same issue that was only resolved using a pressure kit. Keep trying you will get there

Bleeding brakes sucks

[Dungman]

Many thanks for all the suggestions. Problem now solved.

Managed to borrow one of the vacuum kits today which solved the problem with ease. Never had any issues using the ezibleed before however these are definitely the way forward.

Cheers

[AceOfHearts]

What sort of vacuum kit was it?

[Dungman]

It's a Sealey kit that uses the spare tyre. Good, but if I was buying would probably go for the one linked above seems decent value.

[ClassiChimi]

I use a Mityvac and works a treat. Just fill your reservoir and open bleed nipple and a few pumps with the handle and it sucks the liquid through in know time.
As the air and fluid comes through it collects in the little bottle, pretty much as soon as there's no bubbles and your getting continuous fluid just nip up bleed screw and remove vac. Test brakes and you should have a rock hard pedal.
I've not used it on the master cyl so couldn't say if it works well there but it takes only minutes to bleed each side using this device and it's a one man operation removing the need for someone on the pedal.