Since my car doesnt stop unless I step on the brake pedal all the way down (and even then, it doesnt have much braking power) I decided to bleed the brake lines. I already put in a rebuilt master cylinder a month ago and there was no change. The brake pads still look like they are new. I think the previous owner got them installed (I was told they were from Pep Boys by the mechanics at AAMCO) back in February. The car has 4 wheel disc brakes.

I tried bleeding the rear passenger side brake and noticed that it only squirted a little bit of fluid each time and then stopped. My brother was pumping the brakes 3 times and then holding it down each time. The engine was on while we bled the brakes.

Is the brake fluid supposed to squirt out constantly until I tighten the valve, or will it only squirt out some and then stop even before I tighten the valve?

The fluid didnt look bubbly when it came out though. I also noticed that as soon as I loosened the bleeding valve and fluid came out, the piston would stop pushing the pads.

We stopped the bleeding after about 5-6 tries. Maybe I have to keep going until a constant stream of fluid comes out?

 

Ok well you do not need the engine on to bleed,
Make sure you get all the air out of that line.
sometimes it will take 5 or more tries. He
needs to pump up the pedal til solid pedal is
felt, then holler to you, you open bleeder and he
keeps steady pressure on the pedal until it
hits the floor, you close bleeder and have another
go until all the air is out. Might just as well do all 4
wheels while you are doing it too......

 

Thanks for the reply. We will try it again but have the engine off this time. I'll also make sure to tell my brother to pump the brakes until the pedal feels solid.

ps. My emergency brake doesnt work either. I adjusted it by turning the nut that is above the driveshaft until the brake handle only clicks about 10-12 times (maybe adjusted it too much, but the nut is less than an inch from the end of the screw now) and the emergency brake still doesnt hold. Could this be related to my brake problem?

 

Until it ONLY clicks 10-12 times??? Mine clicks 5-7 times... Are you sure you went the correct way with that nut? You should be screwing the nut on to the threaded part. The way I adjust mine is...I pull my handle to where I want it to land when the e-brake is fully applied. So like 7 clicks. Then I adjust the e-brake so that everything is engaged and tight at that spot.

I would get your other problem fixed first though. Sounds like you might have a collapsed hose, or just a hole bunch of air trapped in your system. When you installed the new master cylinder, did you bench bleed it first to make sure you got all thel ittle air bubbles out?

I had this problem in my car for awhile. I did new calipers (super cheap) and some good pads. I used morse ceramic pads from autozone. Car stopped like a dream after that and a good bleeding at all four corners.

Justin

 

It used to click about 16 times and go almost all the way up, but now it only clicks about 10 times and goes about half way up. I already adjusted the brake correctly by turning the nut and it is now about 1 inch away from the other part of the screw that has to be held in place. I think either the cable stretched too much or theres something wrong with the mechanism at the rear brakes.

I bench bled the M/C when I installed, but im not sure how well I bench bled it. I used a large screwdriver to push the piston in and out at least 5-6 times and I think most of the air bubbles came out.

I'll try to bleed the brakes again today and hopefully that fixes this problem.