Looking for Help...Brakes

[jglutz]

My Festiva has been racked in the garage for the past week.
New:
Axles...rotors....drums....front & back wheel bearings...calipers...drum cylinders...brake hardware...wheel seals...mtx seals...master cylinder...rear shoes...front pads.

Anyway....I can not get the the left front and right rear brake circuits to bleed well. Some times a squirt...sometimes a drip. Both are fed thru the secondary cylinder on the M/C....lower half of the proportioning valve.

I've hooked up primers to the output of the porportioning valve for both the problem brakes and there is no air between the M/C and output of the prop valve.

I've inspected all the lines....no leaks.

Any ideas?

[V8Festiva]

Joe,

I have worked on many older cars from the 60s.

I had some of the same problems as you.


When you fill that master cylinder, let it sit with the lines off till the fluid starts leaking out the connections. Screw on your lines. Make sure it is full of Brake fluid. Bleed the right rear first. then the left rear. After that right front and last the left side "driver side". I have found with these Festivas you must pump them hard and fast to bleed. Do it soft and problems.

This has worked on a couple dozen of these cars I have done so far with no problems.


Dean
Raleigh, NC

[WmWatt]

I did gravity bleeding when replacing all the brake lines. Had to suck on the line to get it started but it worked fine.

[jglutz]

Brakes....All Better

Here's the story....
Spent Saturday on a road trip
Spent Sunday catching up with yard work and chores.

Worked last night and found the problem....I connected a pressure gauge to the primary cylinder and no problem getting lots of pressure. Connected to the secondary of the M/C and just a blip on the gauge. Took the M/C apart and found the cup seal was installed backwards. The secondary would develope enough pressure to prime the circuit but not enough to push the air thru the lines. A/Z piece of crap.

Called NAPA this morning and had a new M/C on the porch by the time I got home from work.

Thinking about it...I made one big mistake...when I srtiped the car of cylinder and calipers...I did not plug the open lines figuring I was going to flush the lines...I just let the lines drip into cans....way to much air enterend the system.

Anyway I built a home made pressurized brake bleeder..I shot oil from the bleed screws up to the M/C reservoir.




Yes that's a pickle jar...air enters the top above the fuild...other tube goes to the bottom of the jar where the brake fluid is.


Pressure control circuit up near the M/C watching oil return.




New M/C primed and ready to install

[FestYboy]

only see one issue with this, what do you do about the air that's now at the top of the line when you connect the M/C?

here's the fix: point the hard lines upward and push some fluid out, then install the M/C with the line holes plugged. next, install (one at a time) the hard lines onto the M/C, but don't tighten the fittings. allow the fluid in the resivoir to push out any air trapped in the fittings and then close them off. this is how i install new M/Cs without having to reblead the rest of the system, and it works like a charm.

[jglutz]

I shot air with ot the M/C connected and then with the M/C connected...Afterwards I did a conventional bleed.

[Lil-Red]

question i have is, if i use an air compressor at the lines from the master, will that harm anything as long as i have a bleeder open. the only reason that i might do this is to be sure there isnt something in the line blocking fluid. i am not sure what could be in there, but if you saw the condition of the car when i got it you wouldnt question me. Does the brake line manifold have any valves in it that could be damaged by compressed air, or that could get pluged?

[Lil-Red]

Does the car need to be running or not, does it matter? I have heard it both ways, what do you guys think?

B

[FestYboy]

any brake work does not require the use of the engine