brakes still soft

Discussion in 'Technical' started by maxx, Apr 15, 2004.

  1. maxx

    maxx New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2004
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    lanc., pa.
    Vehicle:
    77 mav 4 door 250 inline 6
    I changed all four brakes and bled them, and I still have air somewhere in the line. this is begining to become a pain in the but.
     
  2. Wes

    Wes Maverick Police Dept.

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2002
    Messages:
    1,041
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Western Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    '76 Maverick Stallion '76 Maverick Metro Police K-9
    You may need to bleed them again. This happens sometime. I hope you didn't bleed the reservoir dry at any time. Then you may have sucked some more air down into the lines. If this did happen, it is possible that you may need to remove the master cylinder and bench bleed it like it was replaced also. If you bleed everything again carefully and the brakes are still soft, then you may need to look at the master cylinder as having a problem.
     
  3. Comet-73

    Comet-73 Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    309
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    lethbridge AB Canada
    Vehicle:
    73 comet gt, 76 comet 4 door, 71 Maverick 200/I6
    I would think the easyier way would be to pump up the brakes really good bleed them let them for half an hour pump them up again bleed them again and make sure you start with the brakes that are the farthest away from the master cylinder and work your way towards it


    This may take a few time it took me 3 times but i thought it was easyier then pulling the master cylinder then bleeding them all again anyways also make sure that at no time durring the process that the master cylinders becomes empty i would top it off after bleeding each brake.
     
  4. dmhines

    dmhines Dixie Maverick Boy

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2002
    Messages:
    8,927
    Likes Received:
    22
    Trophy Points:
    147
    Location:
    Cumming, GA
    Vehicle:
    1971 Grabber / 2012 Mustang / 2009 Jeep Wrangler / 2013 Ducati / 2009 Buell XB12Scg
    If you have front disc/rear drums - make sure the rear drums are adjusted or you will have a mushy pedal ...
     
  5. Rick Book

    Rick Book Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2002
    Messages:
    5,744
    Likes Received:
    13
    Trophy Points:
    197
    Location:
    Thailand
    Vehicle:
    Missing my old '70 Maverick


    Do you mean you changed all the brake PADS/SHOES, or the actual cylinders also?

    If you're simply replacing the shoes/pads, it isn't necessary to bleed the brakes. You can use a turkey baster to remove some of the fluid from the reservoir to allow the displacement of fluid when you depress the cylnders to put the new pads/shoes on. Obviously, you don't want to remove enough to allow air into the lines.

    Regardless, like mentioned above, start bleeding at the right rear (passenger side), then left rear, then right front, then left front.

    Use brake cleaner to clean all the potential leak paths.

    Also, you might want to pump the brakes really hard and put a 2" x 4" between the pedal and your seat (or seat brackets) to hold the pedal depressed overnight (after you've done the bleeding process). This should move any air bubbles to the reservoir.

    If there is a puddle of brake fluid under one of the wheels, you've narrowed the search for the leak (fitting - cylinder, etc).

    Good luck and let us know how it turned out.
     

Share This Page