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Changed rear brake lines and brakes no longer work
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flyboy161
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, as I said, I might be wrong. I stand corrected
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zak414
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes I have a Bentley manual. I've followed everything outlined in there and that's why I'm here now.

I've been able to do some pressure bleeding like was suggested and I did start to see some fluid come out of the rear driver's side bleeder. At that point I decided to try to bleed that wheel cylinder. Upon doing that I noticed that I get a different feeling when pumping the pedal while bleeding the rear brakes than I do when bleeding one of the front brakes. When I bleed the front, the pedal goes down smooth until it bottoms out and I get the feeling that fluid is being pumped through the lines. However, when I try to bleed the rear, the pedal goes down and builds up pressure near the end of travel. I get this feeling whether a rear bleeder is open or closed, it is in fact the front brakes being applied.

Does that sound like a failed master cylinder? Or am I just giving up too soon on the pressure bleeding as well?
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scrivyscriv Premium Member
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

zak414 wrote:
Yes I have a Bentley manual. I've followed everything outlined in there and that's why I'm here now.

I've been able to do some pressure bleeding like was suggested and I did start to see some fluid come out of the rear driver's side bleeder. At that point I decided to try to bleed that wheel cylinder. Upon doing that I noticed that I get a different feeling when pumping the pedal while bleeding the rear brakes than I do when bleeding one of the front brakes. When I bleed the front, the pedal goes down smooth until it bottoms out and I get the feeling that fluid is being pumped through the lines. However, when I try to bleed the rear, the pedal goes down and builds up pressure near the end of travel. I get this feeling whether a rear bleeder is open or closed, it is in fact the front brakes being applied.

Does that sound like a failed master cylinder? Or am I just giving up too soon on the pressure bleeding as well?


You're not done yet, keep pressure bleeding. You'll get a full pedal once all the air is out... The initial pedal travel is air compressing in the circuit.. The resistance at the end is hydraulic pressure coming up.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.
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zak414
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Also, do you have the Bentley manual? There is a fantastic section on description & operation of the brakes. Once you wrap your mind around how the main parts function together, it will be cake.


Completely true statement here. Once I went back to basics and started looking at things I realized what my problem was. I never realized that my brake fluid reservoir has two chambers, one for the front and one for the rear. So, the whole time I thought my reservoir was full, only the front section was therefore sending nothing but air to my rear brakes. Once I got that sorted out, bleeding the brakes took no time at all and everything is working good.

I feel very stupid for not have noticed this over the last year of owning this car. I do appreciate everyone's help to lead me to a solution and I have learned a very valuable lesson after all of this.
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1962 Bug
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28 Pict Carb rebuilt by Volkzbitz
Big Cap Distributor rebuilt by Tasb
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scrivyscriv Premium Member
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

zak414 wrote:
Quote:
Also, do you have the Bentley manual? There is a fantastic section on description & operation of the brakes. Once you wrap your mind around how the main parts function together, it will be cake.


Completely true statement here. Once I went back to basics and started looking at things I realized what my problem was. I never realized that my brake fluid reservoir has two chambers, one for the front and one for the rear. So, the whole time I thought my reservoir was full, only the front section was therefore sending nothing but air to my rear brakes. Once I got that sorted out, bleeding the brakes took no time at all and everything is working good.

I feel very stupid for not have noticed this over the last year of owning this car. I do appreciate everyone's help to lead me to a solution and I have learned a very valuable lesson after all of this.


Great!! Glad to hear it. It's nice to find easy fixes like that. I make mistakes on my vw it seems like every week. Thes cars/buses are very different from most any other vehicle I've worked on and it can be tricky sometimes to work on them.
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Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.
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