Quote:
Originally Posted by kurty85
Having a terrible time bleeding the system. The reservoir is full, all connections are tight and verified no leaks. I removed the master cylinder to verify it is not sticking internally. It is working as I push in the piston with my hand and fluid shoots out of the fitting at the front. I reinstalled the master cylinder, checked all connections again, had my son pushing on the pedal while I checked each corner. No fluid comes out of any caliper at any corner. I have also adjusted the brake bias adjuster all the way in and out and make no difference. Only thing I could possibly think of is that the front is higher than the rear, but that should not matter. Can anyone think of anything that might cause this. Also, when I pump faster with the brake pedal, the fluid in the reservoir shoots up radidly and eventually comes out the vent in the cap. Last thing I also did was swap the bleeders on the front brakes from the bottom to the top. Still made no difference.
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Let me ask the obvious thing first: This isn't how the caliper looks right now with the nipple at the bottom of the caliper, right? If so then you need to remove the bleed nipple from the bottom of the caliper and exchange it with the bung on the top or swap the calipers on the other side of the car because the nipple is suppose to be on the top--not the bottom! From the top, as you open the line, fluid fills the caliper like filling a glass with water and pushes air out, but from the bottom, fluid falls out and air gets reintroduced and/or trapped inside the caliper. You will never be able to bleed brakes this way.
The other obvious question is this: are you guys bleeding the system correctly? Is your son pumping the brakes a few times until the system is pressurized? If yes then is he holding pressure on the pedal, while you bleed the caliper of air slowly, so his foot never bottoms out the brake pedal because you close the valve before it does? If his foot bottoms out then fluid will still come out, but air will get sucked back in because his foot is no longer creating pressure. Also, you are starting from the tire furthest from the master cylinder (which is always topped up) and then working your way back, so passenger's-rear, driver's-rear, passenger's-front and then lastly, driver's-front, correct?
If you two are doing it correctly then you might have air stuck in the ABS module, which can be removed by cycling/purging the module using Techstream or by driving the car on a gravel road and slamming on the brakes to engage the ABS then going back home and bleeding the brakes again.
I also suggest making life easy by using speed bleeders below. They make bleeding the brakes a one person job because air can not be reintroduced in the system. I have them:
http://www.russellperformance.com/mc/speed-bleeders/
Edit1: I just saw that ABS and the brake booster is removed. In that case, pumping the brakes shouldn't be useful because there is no booster, so just have your son press and hold firmly. I'll leave what I put above in case anyone needs it for reference. It is most definitely the bleed valves being at the bottom of the caliper. If those were already moved to the top then consider your bleeding technique. Just a note: without power brakes, the pedal will hit the pad in an all or none fashion, but the driver still needs to press much harder to stop faster. This is like trying to measure force using a strain gauge where there is no movement even with increasing levels of force. Similarly, the pedal will not travel further, but more force still needs to be applied to stop faster.
Edit2: Also, there are two nipples on these calipers like my Wilwood calipers. Both need to be bled. I'm pretty sure it is advisable to bleed the outside first and then the inside, but it shouldn't matter as much as bleeding the furthest caliper and working back towards the master cylinder.