Aspire rear brake bleed issues

[Arnie]

So I'm finally getting close to getting my car on the road after doing the Aspire swap and other doodads.

Today i was bleeding the brakes and had just a trickle of fluid out of the rear drums. Pedal never firmed up while pumping. It was always soft.

Is it possible that the lines have something stuck in there? Any way to blow/suck any obstructions? Or will it just be a case of detaching lines and chasing down the blockage "area"?

Thanks guys.

[Arnie]

Also, what is a blown wheel cylinder like? If its gone bad will there be fluid issues as well?

[r34king]

how are you bleeding the brakes. if you are gravity bleeding they will only trickle. if you have someone in the car pumping the pedal it should shoot further.

[batstiva]

Also, what is a blown wheel cylinder like? If its gone bad will there be fluid issues as well?

In my experience, a blown wheel cylinder would result in major brake fluid loss. I guess it would depend on what went wrong with it, but the only wheel cylinder I've seen go bad literally would dump all the fluid in the system in just a few pedal pumps.

[Lil-Red]

I was going thru the same on my 88. I tore apart the MC and found one of the cups had a big chunk missing, and was not pumping as well as it could

[festivaWES]

On red i found the right rear brake cylinder to be locked up right from rust. Thery are only 6 bucks to replace from rock auto.

[Arnie]

thanks for the insight guys.

yeah, the cylinders move, per se. As in, i can move the piston back and forth by hand. Not sure if they are moving when brake pressure is applied. I'll have to get someone to help me pump while i look at them. But there is no leaking. They are still tight.

I had to bleed alone, but what i did was pump the brakes with a 2x4 and then held it in place by the seat pushed up against it. So, pretty close to like having someone pump and hold. I would never have someone pump while i had the bleed valve open (because you'd get air in the lines each time you released the pedal), so i don't see how i would ever see fluid shoot out. though, at this point, perhaps its worth a shot just to see if any fluid is reaching the brakes from pedal pressure. Perhaps just open the line and have someone pump once.

I was using they typical brake bleed sequence (I hope!) RR, RL, RF, LF.

Master cylinder and brake peformance were fine pre swap. Fluid was always topped off while i was doing the swap, so reservoir was never "dry".

[Festiva_tunner]

Try bleeding at your master cylinder you may have air in it

[jasonpaulbauer]

Yeah... Keep bleeding.... Mine took awhile.

[Arnie]

Try bleeding at your master cylinder you may have air in it

Are you suggesting a full bench bleed?

[Arnie]

Yeah... Keep bleeding.... Mine took awhile.

yeah, i'll try just opening one bleeder valve and have someone do a single pump. See if anything dribbles out. If not, then I'll try disconnecting where the hard line of the OEM Festiva and the Aspire attach. See what comes out there and then move further down till i hopefully hit paydirt.

Anyone know if Aspire brake lines are readily available new from kragen, etc.?

[Fez]

I know my local O'reillys offers loaner tools and they have a vacuum brake bleeder. It turns bleeding into a one man job and saves a bunch of time.

[Arnie]

Yeah, i've thought about using a vacuum bleeder if pumping is not working. but i do figure, if the pumping is not working then a vacuum bleeder is not going to help me either. but yes, they do make the job easier when working alone.

[FestYboy]

ain't nothing better than a gravity bleed.

[Fez]

or you could try these: http://www.speedbleeder.com/
The part number for an Aspire front or rear is SB8100 and they are only $7 a piece.