Brake Drama's

[dohc]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the offer. How long has it been off your parts car? I've heard that they degrade fairly quickly if they don't have fluid in the lines etc?

If not long and it's not too much hassle I'd be happy to take it off your hands.... Just tell me where to go :classic:

Cheers,

R.

[Z Kid]

Ross, its been off for a couple of months now, but was not totally dry till I turned it upside down to look at the bottom this morning, and poured brake fluid all over myself. Email me and I will happily tell you where to go .

Cheers Chris

If you lost mine like I lost yours its (remove the goawayspam)

thorci00goawayspam@hotmail.com

[dohc]

Well, the update on this one is that I still can't find the problem.....

I've replaced the master cylinder and vacuum servo unit (thanks Z Kid) and I've cured one problem that I noticed when I went back to it: air bubbles in the master cylinder brake fluid.

I'm fairly certain that the old Master Cylinder was stuffed or at least on the way out cause when I pulled it apart it was full of black crap.

However I've now bled it all and I'm still not able to get a firm pedal and the 'Brake' light is now coming on on the dash..... I believe this light means that one of the brake circuits (front or back) has lost pressure......

Any thoughts? I'm going to head home tomorrow and bleed them again for good measure, make sure that I'm not missing anything but after that...?

Any ideas would be good, I'm going mad here

R.

[2ManyZs]

One quick question before you do anything more... are you bleeding the master cylinder itself before you bleed the brakes at the wheels???? If you have bubbles in the master reservoir, you'll just end up putting air in the lines if you don't bleed the bejeepers out of the master first. Bleed about one or two reservoirs fulll (both of them) out of the master, then bleed the brakes thoroughly and then see what happens...

I know you might think it's a no-brainer to do the master first, but you would be surprised by the number of people who don't......

[dohc]

Hey 2Many

I did do the master first but I'm never sure how much I need to run through it? I've also replaced the master that was bubbling on every push of the pedal with a known working unit and then bled it but that's where I'm having trouble....

I've only ever had to bleed a couple of other cars (and never the Zed) I'm not sure how long it should take to flush any air out of the back circuit, etc?

Good thought though, I'll make sure I do that properly.... Once I get home and get some sleep, it's 7am here and I'm starting to go stir crazy....

Ross.

[2ManyZs]

I can't think of the size right off hand, I think it might be 3/16 (but don't quote me on that) clear vinyl tubing that will fit nicely over the bleeder screws. Use that and put it in a clear bottle (soft drink or whatever) and bleed the brakes until you see no more bubbles coming out of the tubing. I'd do the master at least one or two full reservoirs and check to see if any bubbles show up coming UP into the reservoir, if not, then it's all out.

You'll probably use at least one full container (16 oz)of fluid to do a good job.

BTW, the soft pedal while the engine is not running tells me you have a lot of trapped air or the master was at fault. With no vaccum on the master, it should still be fairly stiff... just in case you ever have that problem again....

[lordbiotree]

Gravity bleeding is the best way to go. Open up the valve put a container (old coffee can)under the MS. About every 30min check and add more fluid. Look at it this way After you've done drinking a Beer go and check.

Requires only you and time.

If still limp pedal then master vac-hose problem

-Brandon

[dohc]

....and the money goes to 2Many.

I re-bled the master and it put out clean fluid for a couple of pumps then coughed and spluttered and put out a stack of air. Must have been caught up in there somewhere.

Thanks for the advice to check that again, I thought the once would be enough... Apparently not

Well, after all of that I now know how to replace the vacuum servo and master cylinder and I'm very good at bleeding brakes

Thanks again all.

Ross.

[2ManyZs]

Money?:classic: I take PayPal or personal checks.....

Seriously though, glad it worked out to be just trapped air....guess it could have been worse....