HELP! Can NOT get my brakes bled!!

[TIMSPEED]

For some reason, I have NO pressure in my brakelines. I went to bleed them and flush the fluid today, now I have NO brakes at all! I've only opened the rears so far, but my pedal has no resistance at all. I cracked the rear valves open, and on the drivers side, nothing came out at all. Any help is appreciated! I did what the Haynes Manual said, and still didn't work. Got too dark to work for tonight, so I'll go at it again 2moro.

[low 84]

did you let the master cylinder run dry? if so then you have to seperately bleed the master cylinder before you can bleed the rest of the system.

what proscess of bleeding are you trying to do?

[screwballl]

HaYNES? doh!
should have opted for the Chilton
is it possible the line is crimped or blocked, if it is older may need to be replaced... those are the amateur observations...
now the pros need to chime in lol

[C-10volvo]

from what i have heard, its very hard to get 100% of the air out of the master cylinder unless you use a pressureized system.

[Porkchop]

Are you opening the bleeders and leaving them open when you press the pedal. If so, you shouldn't do that. One person should press and release the pedal five times and hold it on the fifth, then open the valve and do so until you get a steady squirt.

Since you said you flushed the system it sounds like you need to bench bleed the master cylendar. Just remove one line at a time at the master cylendar, then press the pedal down, put your finger over the hole to the line you removed, then release the pedal. Repeat until you get a steady squirt. I think that is the right process.

[1985K10]

I had the same problem after changing the wheel cylinders, pumping 5 times, hold, bleed, tighten bleeder, and let off the pedal didnt work after like 10 tries. We opened a bleeder, put the pedal to the floor and held, closed the bleeder and let up th pedal. After doing to both sides a couple times my brakes were perfect.

[76HighSierra]

Originally posted by C-10volvo
from what i have heard, its very hard to get 100% of the air out of the master cylinder unless you use a pressureized system.

Patience will get it out manually. If you let the master go dry, get yourself a master cylinder bleeding kit. It will basically be two pieces of clear line, two fittings to adapt them to your MC outlets, and two clips to hold both lines in their respective resevoirs. It's quite difficult to bleed the MC mounted on the truck, because you can't watch the tubes and pump the brakes at the same time. It's best to remove the MC and mount it in a soft-jawed bench vice to do this. Once set up, with bleeder lines in place and MC full of fluid, pump the master with slow and steady strokes, pausing in between each stroke for just a few seconds. You will see air bubbling out of the end of each bleeder line. It's of the utmost importance to get every last bit of the air out, so make sure there is not so much as the tinniest bubble coming out and you are done. Mount the MC back onto the truck, quickly connect the lines, then start the bleeding procedure, working from the wheel that is the farthest away from the MC (left rear) and work your way "towards" it. If you can't seem to get the MC bled, or the rear portion doesn't seem to be producing any pressure, replace the MC. It's very common in our trucks for the MC's to start "bypassing" once they reach the age that most of them are now. New or re-man MC's are plentiful and cheap. Hope this helps, Tim.

[76HighSierra]

Also, when bleeding the wheels, consider getting a "Mityvac" one man bleeder kit. No pedal pumping and much less mess. They run about $30-$35 at your local FLAPS.

[TIMSPEED]

Yeah, I believe the rear brake resvr. has ran dry while bleeding. I'll try bleedin the MC 2moro in the light. Thanks for the tips guys.
BTW: I got the Chilton's too

[BaggedC10]

As Brad Seifferlein said, you need to bench bleed the master cylinder.

[1FaastC10]

MityVacs are AWESOME. the best money you'll ever spend, IMO. i bought one at a garage sale a few weeks back, and used it when working on my buddy's truck last weekend. i dont know how i ever survived without one!

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by TIMSPEED
Yeah, I believe the rear brake resvr. has ran dry while bleeding. I'll try bleedin the MC 2moro in the light. Thanks for the tips guys.
BTW: I got the Chilton's too

Bleeding out the rears is the worst when you run it dry. Not only do you have air in the master but you have air trapped in the proportioning side of the Combination Valve (proper name or what most people call a Proportioning valve).

Three ways to clear that Combination valve.
1. Get the bleeder system that forces fluid from the wheel cylinders back up to the master.

2. Bench bleed master then re install. gavity bleed till you get fluid at wheel cylinders. Then loosen the inlet line for the rear circuit on the Combination valve on front crossmember and tap the CV to dislodge air. DO NOT LET RESIVOIOR RUN DRY or you have to start all over.

3. After gravity bleeding or pump bleeding if still not a firm peddle you can put vacuum on the Resirvior for a couple house and it should draw air back up out of the system. I haven;t tried this but a pro wrench buddy of mine says it will work if all else fails. I understand the principle and have used it when doing some precision moulding for parts fixtures and inks when I was in the printing buisness. Works like a charm with that stuff. Only need to pull 5hg to do the trick. Modified reservior cap to get a place to pull from.