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no brakes!
- Thread starter jdfet
- Start date
zorrex
Enjoys the Abuse
Do you have fluid? Is your master cylinder in good working order?
pre98zetec
Veteran CEG'er
any lines leaking?
hourang
CEG'er
make sure your caliper bleeders are facing up and not toward the ground or you will never build enough pressure 
pstrbrc
CEG'er
If you've thrown that many parts at it to no effect, you might as well replace the master cylinder. My experience has always been that
no brakes + no signs of leaks = bad master cylinder
no brakes + no signs of leaks = bad master cylinder
I read up about bleeding the brakes in the faq's. When I get one bled, and go to the next one, I dont get anything out of it. I then go back to check the first one I did and it has more air in it. No fluid is leaving the resivour. Should the cap be on it when I am bleeding the brakes? The front drivers side barely squeezes anything out and it is thick and green in color, what the heck is that???
No leak in any of the lines.
What does a master cylinder cost and is it difficult to install?
Is there a way to force brake fluid through from the top?
Again, I get one bled and nothing else, when I go back to recheck the one that I bled and I get nothing....
No leak in any of the lines.
What does a master cylinder cost and is it difficult to install?
Is there a way to force brake fluid through from the top?
Again, I get one bled and nothing else, when I go back to recheck the one that I bled and I get nothing....
pstrbrc
CEG'er
I'll try to get these in order.
Actually, yes, it's a good idea to have the cap on. Caps are vented, so that's not the problem.
A reman master cylinder shouldn't cost you any more than $50 exchange, and they're easier to swap out than a rear brake cylinder. If I remember correctly, a master cylinder was the second part my father trusted me to change on a car, after an alternator. What you've written sounds more and more like a bad MC.
Now the green stuff is a darn good question. Did you contaminate the brake fluid with ANYTHING?? It sounds like you got something in there that's eating everything up. Brake components are lined with a material that's impervious to that nasty ol' brake fluid, but will be destroyed by anything else. You might have a mess on your hands. On the other hand, it might be a newfangled "rebuild lubricant" somebody came up with. Let's come back to this later.
Yes, there's a way to force fluid through from the top. It's called the brake pedal. If that isn't doing it, DON'T try any other way. There is a way to pressurize your master cylinder with compressed air, but if something ain't right, you won't be fixing anything.
Again, you've already thrown a lot of parts at this, and the only major component left is the master cylinder, and a bad MC fits most of your symptoms. I recommend you try this first.
Wow, thanks for the information!! I am greatful.
I will go ahead and change out the MC then.
I had read somewhere that you cannot run the resivour dry because you will then have to take it to the dealership to have it primed... does that make any sense?
Is the new one 'primed'?
I was hoping the caliper that has the green stuff coming out of it, just had a cold or something....
Again, thanks for the detailed information!
I will go ahead and change out the MC then.
I had read somewhere that you cannot run the resivour dry because you will then have to take it to the dealership to have it primed... does that make any sense?
Is the new one 'primed'?
I was hoping the caliper that has the green stuff coming out of it, just had a cold or something....
Again, thanks for the detailed information!
4banganda5spd
CEG'er
yeah my vote is for the master cylinder too. once you get that on there, continue to bleed the entire system until you have new fluid comin out of every corner. dont forget to keep adding fluid to the MC resevior, keeping it full.
good luck man.
good luck man.
hourang
CEG'er
pstrbrc
CEG'er
Huh? No.
No. There will be instructions with the MC to tell you how to get things started. In fact, since you know how to blead the brakes already, the whole instructions are (basicly) undo everything, take old one off, put new one on. The most important instruction you need to hear is that brake fluid is very corrosive. Turkey baster all the fluid you can out of the old one, have lots of paper towels under and around every line you take apart, stuff like that.
I'm still inclined to believe it's some sort of assembly goo.
Priming and bleeding are the same thing, if that removes any confusion. The new master cylinder will NOT be primed/bled, you have to do it yourself before installing on car. Yes, if you let it run dry, you get to start all over because once fluid is gone you are now pumping air back in again. I bleed master by putting it in a vise and filling it, then hand stroking the part with anything that will fit in the back of it. Helps to have lines attached to direct the fluid that is bled out right back into the cylinder so it does not run dry. If no lines are attached, say 3-4 inches long, there's a good chance that you will suck air back into master when you let the piston release back out, unless master is equipped with check valve/s. That part you can do with the cap off, but once unit mounted in car, better to have cap on. I have just installed master on car and bled the whole system at once before though. The fact that you bleed one line and then later it's got air in it again means you are pumping air in somewhere. If you have kept reservoir full, that means you have a bad cylinder or an air leak somewhere. Good communication is necessary with your bleeding helper, if he pumps pedal at the wrong time it just pumps more air into the system. When you bleed, do the longest line first, then go to next longest line, etc. At the first, check fluid level in master often, as you will be using a bunch until lines begin to get more full. I will bleed one line and check it. You may have to bleed the longer lines as many as 4-5 times before all air is gone. Take the time and consider while doing it, "is your life worth this extra effort?" The crud in the one line may just be really old fluid, if you get it to purge out and new clean fluid follows it, you may be fine. But, BUT, you MUST first get an airtight system that has ZERO leaks or it NEVER will pressure up. Also, unless I've missed something in the last 30 years, there is NO AIR VENT in the system. It's sealed once buttoned up. Brake fluid is hydroscopic, it sucks up water vapor from the air. A vented cap will allow water to condense in the system and start corroding things, could be the cause of that bad looking fluid. Do NOT save any fluid that has come through the system to be cheap and reuse it. It's throwaway stuff then, go buy some more. It is considered contaminated once it's been through the system.
pstrbrc
CEG'er
Bzzzzt!!!
No, the CAP is vented, and then there's that cute diaphragm thingy that keeps atmospheric air from contaminating the MC fluid with (gasp) humidity.
:troutslap:
Yep, the cap is vented, but the system itself is sealed. I thought it was very important to get that point across. The rubber under vent bellows into airspace over the fluid to replace fluid space when brakes wear. To do that correctly the rubber itself needs the vent.
Well you guys were all dead on! Thank you very much!! I changed the MC (and that really sucked!) everything bled very quickly and were off and running. Now I have to get a new rubber pc for the fluid resivour. My is chewed up!
BTW, Why are my rear drums so hard to put on? I got one on but the wheel doesnt want to turn easily. Needless to say, the drums get hot!
Should I start a new post on that?
Thanks again guys, very much.
BTW, Why are my rear drums so hard to put on? I got one on but the wheel doesnt want to turn easily. Needless to say, the drums get hot!
Should I start a new post on that?
Thanks again guys, very much.
You have to readjust the self adjusters to allow brake shoes to come in to each other. That makes them smaller in OD so drum goes on easy. Then you move the self adjusters to tighten brakes back up. You may be able to do that last by repeatedly applying and releasing the emergency brake. Proper starting point is with drum barely touching as you rotate it by hand. Even with brake loose heat will build up there, so hard to tell by that alone. If they're too tight though, possible to suddenly lock up wheel when drum overheats too much.
hourang
CEG'er
yup just move the adjusters in before you put the drum on. then use the ebrake to adjust them. also braking in reverse helps to adjust them too. if you need help, refer to the autozone.com service manuals.