unable to get brake pedal after repair

[SRhodes]

When I first got my bug last year, I saw rear wheel cylinders leaking and replaced them. Bled them with no problem.

I saw leaking front wheel cylinders and replaced them. Was not able to get a firm brake pedal after bleeding. I saw fluid coming from the front frame drain and was told to look at the master Cylinder. I removed it and found it was leaking. I replaced it and rebled the system. Still no pedal, but now no leaks...

I thought maybe that I did not bench bled the master cylinder adequately or it was defective, so I replaced it again.

I have adjusted the brakes up as tight as I can.
on the first pedal pump the front brakes do not engage. I have no leaks at this point!
Any Ideas what to look at next???? could I have a bad new front wheel cylinders or the wrong part? HELP!

BTW I am a trained auto technician.... and I am stumped

[baldessariclan]

Seeing as you're dealing with a 50+ year old vehicle, and all the existing brake system cylinders (wheel and master) that were on it proved to be bad or leaking, I'd say there's a good chance some or all of the flexible lines may be bad as well and need replacing. Plus perhaps one or more of your hard lines may be plugged w/ corrosion, or some other type of blockage - ?

Another possibility is that you may have installed some components (wheel and master cylinders) which were of questionable or poor quality. Unfortunately, a lot of the aftermarket parts out there nowadays can be pretty sketchy, and that includes brake components. If they were some sort of "no-name" or "Chinese-ium" parts, you may have good cause to be suspicious of those as well...

I've personally had good luck so far with the "ATE" or FTE" branded brake parts, when I can find them. Some folks have reported success with the "Varga" items (Brazilian origin, I believe) too, although I personally had to replace one of their master cylinders after it started leaking just 3 years into service. YMMV -- good luck!
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1971 Standard Beetle — fairly stock / driver

baldessariclan -- often in error, never in doubt...

[halfassleatherworks]

make sure you have the right about of free play between the pushrod and the master piston I don't know the distance it's like 1mm.

[my3bugs]

try this . master topped off . crack the rear bleeders , stick a clear hose over the barb n watch for bubbles , when no more bubbles close n do the fronts the same way . a gravity bleed ........ i manually bleed afterwards but find its usually not needed . i used to struggle till i started doing this .

check the reservoir and keep it topped off .

[Schatzievw]

I had the same problem once. I was using a hand vac on the bleeder screws but was not able to get much fluid. What I did to resolve this was to push the brake pedal forward a inch or two and held it in place with a stick. I then used the vacuum pump and the fluid flowed freely.

[Cusser]

[baldessariclan]

[viiking]

For dual circuit MC and DRUM brakes all round......

Bleed the FRONTS first!!!
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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3

[jeff68]

Sorry to see your struggling with your brakes! Most of us have been there. As others have said, there are many places to check to find the cause of the problem(s). First check the "soft lines" as if they are old, they may collapse when you retract the brake pedal. I'm assuming all of the hard steel lines are in good shape with no leaks, debris or blockage - address if needed. Make sure the bleeders on all of the wheel cylinders are not lower than the master cylinder.
Once you are certain all the brake system components are in good shape try bleeding the brakes per the Bentley manual procedure.
As an alternative bleeding method, I've used the one man bleeder method with a line on the bleeder into a clear bottle that's hung lower than the wheel cylinder. I've had great success with this method. If this doesn't work, you just have to check all components and make sure they are all good to see if you've overlooked anything. As many have said "New" parts can sometimes be failing.
Best of luck!