Bleeding brakes, no fluid coming through...

[Notablecarrot3]

Hi guys, I've been trying to bleed the brakes of my beetle for the last 3 months, yes you've read rightly! lack of time and motivation means I've taken a long time.

I have changed the master cylinder, shoes, drums and the rear wheel cylinders.

When trying to bleed the brakes with my dad pumping on the pedal if I'm lucky I'll get a minute bubble come through after a while, nothing really happening though...

I borrowed a power bleeder to put the braking system under pressure, still nothing comes through when I open up the bleeders...

Any ideas?
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[thomas.]

Try tightening the brake shoes out 1st,

[[email protected]]

How old are the rubber lines? Really old rubber lines can swell shut.

I had the same problem, just could not get those brakes to bleed. I usually use the pump method, but since fluid apparently did not get to the master cylinder pumping was useless. and there must have been some air lock somewhere because gravity bleed also failed. Enter the redneck power bleeder. Old inner tube, small tire inflator and some hose clamp to hold it onto the reservoir. It worked.

[drscope]

May sound silly, but are you sure you have flow from the reservoir to the master?

I helped a guy about 10 years ago that had a similar problem after a complete brake system upgrade. Turned out the little spouts on the bottom of the reservoir that the feed lines to the master connect to weren't open. In the manufacturing process, they were closed and needed to be drilled in order for the fluid to flow.

How they didn't catch this when they took the new parts out of the box is beyond me, but I guess there were a lot of late nights in the garage. And yes it was a very frustrating ordeal coming into the project after the build to try to find the problem.

But go back and make sure you have flow to the master.

You may also want to try a simple gravity bleed. Fill the master, open the bleeders and let it sit over night. But DON'T let it sit more then over night or all your fluid will be on the floor and you'll be back to square one.

Also on a dual circuit master it helps to bleed the front circuit first before you move to the back.
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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[herbie1200]

I had a similar problem with my rear brakes.

Discovered the metal tube from front to rear was clogged by a sort of gum.

I suppose it was the fluid reservoir cap washer, that I found disgregated on the bottom of the reservoir.

[67jason]

replace rubber lines and adjust your shoes.
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67 bug x3
67 ghia
64 bug

[Notablecarrot3]

[KTPhil]

[trh351]

Was the MC bench bled prior to installation? Doing this removes air trapped in the piston and also verifies the MC is operating.

[cdub65]

i have been dealing with the same issue with mine for 5 days and finally figured it out. I was also not getting fluid and what i did was bench bleed the mc and still no fluid so i hooked up my vacuum pump and while someone pumped it i pumped the brake fluid and after a few pumps i was getting fluid to the wheel cyl. Hopefully this helps and helps solve your problem because i know how it feels.

[tb03830]

Just my two cents. First you need to determine were the blockage is. I suggest removing a line from the master cylinfder and removing end that goes to the wheel and see if you can get air down it. That will narrow it down. If you do get air than it is in the master cylinder. If you do not then I would do the sme with each of the segments until you find the blockage.

My guess is that you have a blocked hard line or a new soft toob that has swelled shut. You also may have a bad wheel cylinder.

Age does cause problems when they set on the shelf for long periods. I found this the hard way.
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"Sic Vic Pacem, Para bellum - Pray for peace, prepare for war."

1964 Convertible Bug - 1600cc SP engine with a stock H30/31 Carb and SVDA Distributor - Swing Arm Highway Flyer Tranny, Gene Berg's Temperature Dipstick, 2.5" drop spindles, 2" narrowed adjustable front end. Chromed OEM fan tower.

[Notablecarrot3]

Thanks for your replies, I still haven't got anywhere, gravity bleed doesn't work, even pushing down on the pedal slowly with all the bleed valves open I can get a drip of fluid from the rear right only at best.

If I loosen the hardlines from the master cylinder, when I push slowly down on the pedal fluid comes out of the outlet that goes to the back of the car, however not the slightest sign of anything from the two front outlets. I spoke to a friend who's a mechanic, he said it's most likely a bad master cylinder.

Is there any sure fire test to see if the MC is ok?
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[[email protected]]

I would think loosen the hard lines and see the fluid ooze out under pressure was a foolproof test. None out the front seems pretty conclusive.

One can take a master cylinder apart and look to see what is wrong.

[Dr OnHolliday]

If the pushrod is too long, the piston in the mc won't come back far enuff to allow fluid into the mc....then you are pumping nothing but air...
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1965 Type 1 sunroof Baja / about 70k miles on self-rebuilt '74 1600 and counting / SP heads and aftermarket valve keepers / non-doghouse shroud with external cooler and filter / 1.5 qt extended sump / Weber 32/36 DFAV progressive carb / 009 dist with Pertronix / 1.25 ratio rockers and ball adjusters / 1.5" stainless steel J-pipes and carbon steel baja exhaust