I am getting clean, debris free brake fluid through my passenger side rear and driver side rear wheel cylinders. My helper is not slamming the brake pedal down when I bleed, and yet the clear tubing I have attached to the bleeder on the right rear jumps as if he's hitting the brakes hard enough to send them through the floor When this happens, I have just gotten a column of air-free fluid about 3" long out of the wheel cylinder. Then, BAM at least 8" of air is blasted into the tubing. When I bleed again, the fluid is areated like soap foam My master is not leaking, my booster is not filling with fluid, my intake isn't sucking in fluid from the intake, and the brake pedal rod is definitely adjusted properly. There are no leaks in this sytem- I have been under the car a dozen times inspecting it. I have flushed the system and replaced all fluid. Driver's side rear does not behave this way at all; it bleeds normally I replaced the driver's side cylinder last week because it was leaking. I had just previously bled the passenger ised rear (the one now giving me trouble) before discovering I needed a driver's side rear cylinder. When I did this last week, the passenger side rear cylinder bled with no troubles at all. I have not driven the car since replacing the driver's rear wheel cylinder
Chris, How old are your "hard lines"? If they are original it may be time to consider replacing them?? :Smarty:
Front discs? Prop. valve could be bad? Depress the button when bleeding the rears? Check the rear hoses at the fittings. I've seen them go bad and only unseal when the pressure is released. That is where the air could be getting into the system.
Chris, I have no idea what this problem is but when I read this board I ALWAYS see that you have brake problems. I think you still have four wheel drums if Im not mistaken. Its time to make a change and stop fighting those things, man. I am switching out my front discs soon( less than 1000 miles-- going to race weight brakes---I'll have stock all new rotors, calipers, powder coated spindles) I'll make you a deal to get you started!! I just feel bad because you seem to be having problems standing in the way of your enjoyment. George in DC
George- I haven't had a second's fun in this car in over two years, and it's my daily driver. I can't buy your brakes, although I appreciate your offer. The car must be fixed and now . I don't have the time to put in new spindles, backing plates, lines, master, proportioning valve, etc etc. It's September 7th already. I hope you understand. This car is turning into a piece of **** from sitting around and even if I fix it tomorrow it will be a major chore to bring it around just so it doesn't get even worse over this winter. I put a lot of effort into the car and I can't let that happen ~~~~~~~~~~ Four wheel drum, no valve ~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, there's air coming in somewhere. But please, trust this ex-F/A-18 E/F Quality inspector- there is no external leak visible to the eye. I'm not kidding when I say I've looked for leaks ~~~~~~~~~~ Only two hard lines are original, and they go from the m/c to the warning switch. They are very easy to inspect and are sound. The other lines are 3, 5, and eight years old ~~~~~~~~~~
How old is the Master? Just guessing. When I bleed the brakes on my Lark, I have to do it with the engine running to get the rears to bleed properly. Do you think it just might need a little help getting the air out?
Disconnect one of the lines to the master. Pull a vacuum on it with the cover on (of course) and see if the fluid in the master has bubbles when you remove the cover. It may only be a couple of years old but the seal could go bad.
Would a bad cylinder cause this? Seems I read it somewhere that it would. I'm probably way off, but you never know.
True. No matter what other problems it might have, everything is suspect. i did however solve a part of the puzzle
As a matter of fact, Eric, it is now my experience that a bad wheel cylinder would do this. I spent 20 bucks on a new wheel cylinder and the problem instantly disappeared. I'm not sure what the issue was- threads on the bleeder or what, but the piston cup was slightly wet. not enough to leak out, but damp. The icky brake goo on the wheel cylinder itself wasn't dust anymore either, it was the other day, but today it was mucky muddy goop. Twenty dollars later, problem solved. Bled both rears today, nice steady solid columns of clean, crystal clear fluid, I will tackle fronts tomorrow
Brakes are now 100% I can lift my butt off the seat with the brakes before the tires lock now. Car stops dead straight ahead. :beer
Good Job! I had a similar problem on my Honda cafe racer. The front brake was crap. I found the problem once I applied a vacuum bleeder and noticed that the threads of the bleeder would allow air back into the system, but never leaked any fluid out. I hope all of your brakes problems are gone and you can enjoy some autumn driving.
I'll see what I can do tomorrow. I have to borrow my brothers camera for digital pix. I really want to get my own digital camera, but it would have to be a really slick model having been a former high scool yearbook photographer, I get fussy about that stuff. In the mean time, I'm focusing my cash expenditures on my '68 Riv and trying to lie low on the toy purchases! :beer
Woo hoo! Everyone talks about the merits of two-wheel disc brakes, but for me, a fully functioning drum system is so much easier to work on that it outweighs the merits of discs, if you drive carefully.
I don't think there's anything wrong with the drums to be honest. Aren't the stock drums covering more surface area than the stock discs? Once you recognise what fade feels like and you learn to modulate the brakes, there's no trouble Plus, I like prehistoric auto tech. You should have seen me explaining what a voltage regulator was, to an auto parts store clerk last week. "No, a voltage regulator is more than 14 dollars...no it's not a pigtail...no it doesn't look like that, it's a square box on the fire wall...yes, for real, I've had these cars for the last 16 years..." :laugh: Then they told me they could cross reference the original GM number which they actually couldn't becuase the orignal number is the obsolete number. Whhheeeeeee!
