No brake pressure when bleeding

[Rainmaker]

I have a 91 talon AWD with ABS, i am having a problem with bleeding the brakes. When i bought the car it had been sitting for about a year and the brake reservoir went dry. I filled up the reservoir and proceeded to bleed the brakes. i started with the rear passenger caliper, i had my assistant hold the brake to the floor and i opened the bleeder and no fluid squirted out... tried about 15 more times and still with no results. During that time the brake pedal became really stiff but the resistance didn't change at all ( doesn't go to floor) when i open the bleeder. However when i start the car the pedal goes all the way to the floor doesn't become stiff no matter how many times i pump the brake. There aren't any leaks in the brake line because I'm not losing any fluid. What could be the problem?

 

[AlaskanDsm]

I actually had bought a car from a similar situation. I also had the same problem with the reservoir being dry.

I added fluid and opened up the front bleeders first. I know this is redundant as you would have to perform this again but this way you can let the gravity feed the fluid to make sure the front brakes are recieving fluid. I did not compress the brake.

Once the front had fluid I went to the back passenger as you have tried and opened the bleeder quite a ways to make sure it was wide open for drainage. It deffinetely took a while but after about 2-4 minutes for both rear caliphers with the bleeders open, gravity fed, the fluid came out.

*Only one calipher was open at a time.*

Then repeated the front while monitoring the brake fluid reservoir for changes in the level so I didn't go below the low mark and put air back into the system.

One other thing you could try is instead of holding the brake compressed... try pumping it a couple times but make sure to watch the reservoir level and to watch the bleeder in case the oil decides to shoot out.

 

[boostonboard]

Did you pump the brakes multiple times before opening the bleader valve? Also i thought if you had ABS you had to have a special tool so it fills all the chambers?

 

[misphit]

Did you pump the brakes multiple times before opening the bleader valve? Also i thought if you had ABS you had to have a special tool so it fills all the chambers?

I've never heard of such a thing.

 

[Rainmaker]

I actually had bought a car from a similar situation. I also had the same problem with the reservoir being dry.

I added fluid and opened up the front bleeders first. I know this is redundant as you would have to perform this again but this way you can let the gravity feed the fluid to make sure the front brakes are recieving fluid. I did not compress the brake.

Once the front had fluid I went to the back passenger as you have tried and opened the bleeder quite a ways to make sure it was wide open for drainage. It deffinetely took a while but after about 2-4 minutes for both rear caliphers with the bleeders open, gravity fed, the fluid came out.

*Only one calipher was open at a time.*

Then repeated the front while monitoring the brake fluid reservoir for changes in the level so I didn't go below the low mark and put air back into the system.

One other thing you could try is instead of holding the brake compressed... try pumping it a couple times but make sure to watch the reservoir level and to watch the bleeder in case the oil decides to shoot out.

I will give this a try tomorrow but since gravity is in play here.I can already see a problem with this working for me since my car parked on a hill.

 

[boostonboard]

I've never heard of such a thing.

yeah I could be wrong I'll check once I get to a computer

 

[CJTurbo]

If the reservoir went dry you will need to bench bleed the master cylinder first then bleed the brake lines at each wheel.

 

[eeeewidner]

I will give this a try tomorrow but since gravity is in play here.I can already see a problem with this working for me since my car parked on a hill.

Make sure you have the resevoir cap off while doing this. If you have massive amounts of air in the system with it on the brakes will never gravity bleed.

Another thing is put vice grips on each of the lines at the wheels and pump up the pedal, if the pedal gets hard then the master is no longer in question. If the pedal gets hard and then drops then the master is bad. By removing one v. grip at a time you can also check the calipers for piston leakage...If you have a leak in your lines you will find it very fast and easily....We do this at Midas all the time..It should take you about 15 minutes to bleed the entire system if everything is fine.....

 

[boostonboard]

Ok its my mistake you dont need a special tool, but "The preferred method for bleeding ABS brakes is to use a vacuum bleeder"

 

[Defiant]

With ABS, it's worth the money to have a shop who's in the business do the bleeding, especially once the system's gone dry. It won't be cheap.

 

[Drifte]

Just since i came accross this I thought I would throw my 2cents in. Bleeding the 1g awd with abs I believe I read it said to have the car running and it MUST be level. That was the only way it worked for me too. I no longer have an ABS car, but I am currently looking for the bleeding procedure for a DSM.

 

[motozachl]

If the reservoir went dry you will need to bench bleed the master cylinder first then bleed the brake lines at each wheel.

What is bench bleeding the master cylinder? I removed the abs on my 2g with a nonAbs prop with lines and after bleeding all the calipers twice, it takes two pumps of the pedal to get pressure to the brakes to stop. And even then it doesn't seem to stop too well

*Note that' I'm testing the brakes in a parking lot and not driving on the roads.

 

[pwnzer]

What is bench bleeding the master cylinder? I removed the abs on my 2g with a nonAbs prop with lines and after bleeding all the calipers twice, it takes two pumps of the pedal to get pressure to the brakes to stop. And even then it doesn't seem to stop too well

*Note that' I'm testing the brakes in a parking lot and not driving on the roads.

You need to take the master cylinder out (hence the bench part) and bleed it separately to ensure that there is no air in the master cylinder. If you bleed the lines and there is air in the master cylinder you will not get anywhere.

 

[agarc023]

You need to take the master cylinder out (hence the bench part) and bleed it separately to ensure that there is no air in the master cylinder. If you bleed the lines and there is air in the master cylinder you will not get anywhere.

Care to explain how or a link to a writeup?

I have a new master cylinder waiting

 

[pwnzer]

So I couldn't seem to find any write ups on here. But basically you want to open up the reservoir, and be sure it is filled past the minimum line (make sure it stays above the minimum line. And then place a hose running into a bottle off the capped off openings to the master cylinder. Then you use the plunger to push fluid through (this ensure that the fluid completely fills the cylinder). Do that until you no longer see any air bubbles coming out of the top of the reservoir. Theres some decent guides if you google " bench bleeding master cylinder" however none of them are specific to a dsm. Same concept though.

 

[overkill]

Use a mityvac tool from autozone or somewhere and pull a vacuum on the bleeder to suck the fluid through the line. Easiest way to bleed brakes. Another option is to back bleed the system by pushing fluid from the bleeder through the line and into the master to push all the air out.