Brake bleed question... again

[dragon0123]

First post, and also long time camaro guy, Be nice...

I changed the rear brakes on my 02 today and after difficult hours and finaly figuring the piston screws in, not pushes, and having the piston fall out of the caliper ( cause Me ( the dumba@@) pushed on the brake) So ive lots of air in the lines.

Ive got pressure to the fronts and they work good. I got no brake or ABS dash lights. But the pressure to the rears is not good. The E-brake is not pressurizing well either.

Ive tried bleeding the rears but the pressure is quite paltry. As it comes out in a slow stream. not much of a big squirt.
My question is

-need I bleed all 4 brakes?
-Should I also bleed the MC? Im assuming the 2 bleeders on the side of the MC is where i would do this.
-What order. MC, RR,LR,RF,LF??
-Do I have to do anything different with the ABS.

Thanks

 

[Zoie_daGT]

You want to bleed from the farthest from the MC and work your way to the closest. I think you might have a problem if the cylinder actually fell out of the caliper. You caliper may be shot.

 

[dragon0123]

You want to bleed from the farthest from the MC and work your way to the closest. I think you might have a problem if the cylinder actually fell out of the caliper. You caliper may be shot.

Why do you say that.. ?? No problems before the brake job.. except the grinding of steel on the rotors which were changed.

 

[dragon0123]

Hmmm. Chilton says that if air gets into the HCU youll need to have an expensive scan tool diagnose the problem.. anybody ever have to do this??

 

['03GTinFLA]

I haven't used that scan tool but when I was changing my brakes I left a front brake line unhooked and it drained a lot of fluid and I had all kinds of issues trying to bleed the brakes until I bled the master cylinders. Then everything was fine. I would try that first. If that doesn't work then try the more expensive sollutions.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[snowb07]

yes bleed the MC first, then move onto rear pass, rear driver, front pass, front driver,. Making sure you keep filling the MC, if that gets to low you will need to start over.

 

[BobHyatt]

There is an issue with ABS brakes. If the line out of the ABS pump is bled dry by a leak, you can get air in the pump, and like all pumps there are high spots inside that hold air. And you can bleed all day long and still have an air pocket in there that will compress when you hit the brake pedal and make the brake pedal feel "spongy". Solution is to run the pump to eject the air. The dealer can do this by hooking up to the ABS computer and telling it to turn on the pump.

 

[dragon0123]

Would I be getting an ABS light in that case?? Is the HCU in line with the master and brakes or what.?

Basicly I ended up with most of the brake fluid on my driveway after that piston came out. Then it sat for another 20 hrs before I could get back to it. Not sure how low the MC was, I just saw it was low and filled it. I plan to bleed the MC and brakes again tonight, and if I still have issues its into a dealer I go...

Called them and it looks like itll run me $100. + whatever else they can find to charge me for..

 

[fudleyd]

That sux man, I hope you didn't damage anything too bad. I was lucky enough to hear about the "turning piston" before I did the brakes on my car. Keep us updated!

 

[steve_stang2003]

Would I be getting an ABS light in that case?? Is the HCU in line with the master and brakes or what.?

Basicly I ended up with most of the brake fluid on my driveway after that piston came out. Then it sat for another 20 hrs before I could get back to it. Not sure how low the MC was, I just saw it was low and filled it. I plan to bleed the MC and brakes again tonight, and if I still have issues its into a dealer I go...

Called them and it looks like itll run me $100. + whatever else they can find to charge me for..

Some people have reported purging the air by making several panic stops (lock the wheels) in a row and then bleeding the brakes..

IOW from say 40mph mash the brake pedal down and hold it until the car stops.
Repeat a couple of times.

Make sure your system is reasonable before doing this and make sure nobody is anywhere near you just in case...

Worth a try before going to the dealer.

 

[dragon0123]

Well I tried bleeding the MC and the rears again. It did help a little.... but the brakes were still spoongy and you cold tell the rears were not locking up fully. So it had to be brought in. They did thier thing and $106 later it was fixed.

Moral of the story.. dont let all the brake fluid drain out of the line when changing the calipers or brakes if you must disconnect the line. Lesson learned...

Thanks for all your help...

 

[fudleyd]

Well, at least your pistons weren't damaged!
Does it seem normal now?

 

[BobHyatt]

Some people have reported purging the air by making several panic stops (lock the wheels) in a row and then bleeding the brakes..

IOW from say 40mph mash the brake pedal down and hold it until the car stops.
Repeat a couple of times.

Make sure your system is reasonable before doing this and make sure nobody is anywhere near you just in case...

Worth a try before going to the dealer.

I don't see how that can work. The air has to go somewhere. And there's nowhere for it to go if it is trapped down in the brake line and pump, unless you are lucky and the pump activating along with the pressure relief valve is letting the air recirculate. But it still has to get somewhere where it can escape, and that is only up at the master cylinder and there's no way for bubbles to travel up that far. The bubbles have to go out the bottom thru the bleed valves, and you have to somehow get the pump on to eject any trapped air.

 

[mr-mike]

brake info for late models

on lots of late model cars with anti-lock they tell you to open each bleeder valve before you compress the pistons so as no to force fluid backward .... I found its true , also if you drive hard or race it pays to bleed the whole system & use dot 5 as it will take to heat better they say every 2 or 3 years will keep everything working better .....hope this helps for the next brake job .....

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

I swapped the entire ABS system, hyrdoboost and braking system from a 2001 Mustang into my 81 notchback Mustang.....I had a lot of braking problems at first, because all the brake lines were open everywhere...this is what I did.

Got everything hooked up and put in new fluid.

1. I then bled the RR, LR, RF, LF. A little better, but still horrible.

2. Repeated step 1 about 3 times, and it got a little bit better, still not the best.

3. I then read all the BS about the scan tool. I hooked our Snap On scanner to it, but I could not communicate with the ABS system because I didn't have enough upgraded software....so SCRATCH THAT.

4. I then bled the brake system again from RR, LF ,RF, LF...only this time I did it with my friend turning key on and pushing the brake to the floor while the bleeder nut was open. You could here the ABS pump cycling. The brakes were much better at this point and I was finally able to take it out on the street and try it. All the other times I drove it in our parking lot only. The brakes were better, but I had this noise I couldn't find.

5. I then read about bleeding the master. I had my Dad crack one bleeder at a time, and I pushed the brake to the floor. He said he found one had some air, and the other was good. I then took it out on the street, and it was GREAT!!!! No mush, no air, no more noise!!!!

This was my first hydroboost system and I started with a bone dry system, so next time I will know to check the master cylinder first. I just had everything apart, so I wasn't sure where to start.

I also recommend BRAND NEW fluid for the car. GET ALL THE OLD FLUID OUT!!! It is old and contaminated and needs to be replaced.