Brake not working after bleeding them
 

so I have machined my rotors and repainted the calipers(I disconected them(brake lines) off my car) and ofcourse they are bleed, today I put every thing back and bought the brake fluid "gunk" from lordco, after the fluid are filled (no air at all) I went for a test drive and I almost killed myself the brake pedal goes to the floor so basically no brakes, what did I do wrong? now my question is what should I do? how do I test that my master cylinder is gone? one thing I notice is that once I have my brake pedal all the way to the floor it doesnt pop/bounce out quick as usual. I noticed that while I was bleeding the brake feels hard but when I start the engine the pedal just goes to the floor.. any suggestion?

It really sounds like you have air in your lines still. How do you know you bled them right? If they worked before its not the master cylinder those don't just "go". I take it you used 2 people to bleed them and did all 4 corners? (if you have 4 wheel disc)

Berz out.

yup, they were working before, but I lefted empty for 2 weeks(would that make it to fail?) I bleed at all 4 corners, topping fluid in the master cyl, again and again until there are no air bubbles and the fluid runs clean and clear. buddy pumping and I bleeding, I am pretty sure that theirs no air cuz I used almost the full 1L bottle...

Is the reservoir still at the full line after going for your drive?

Not to doubt your abilities but open bleeder push brake down close bleeder. Lift brake up. Open bleeder push brake down. Close bleeder pull brake up. Thats the process you used?

Berz out.

ohh no I didnt not use that process, actually this is my first time bleeding fluids, but I had lots of research and youtubed. thanks Berz maybe I will try your way to see what happens I dont want to spend 200$ for a new MC

Lol ya man You gotta do as I said in that order. Its gonna take you a long time cuz I'm sure most of your lines have air in them now. MAKE SURE YOUR RESERVOIR ALWAYS HAS FLUID IN IT OR YOU WILL HAVE TO START OVER!!

Berz out.

Thanks bud..

When bleeding brakes start at the brake furthest away from the master cylinder and the closest one last. Generally that is the pass rear corner but if you have 4 wheel ABS and if your abs module is on the pass side then you'll start with the driver side rear wheel. If you let the master run dry at any time during the bleed process then you must start the whole thing over again cus now you've introduced more air into the system.
It is also possible you have mixed your right and left calipers up when reinstalling them. If you have put the right caliper on the left side on either the front or rear then the bleeder screw for those calipers would be on the bottom of the caliper. When this occurs you end up with an impossible to remove air bubble at the top of the caliper. That is why calipers are left and right specific.

so I did everything as Berz told me to "pump,release,close" at lease 20 time for each wheel from rear to front, I made sure that the resivoir were leveled so no way my lines still have air. I am thinking that my mastercylinder is gone or some how is trapped with air, next thing I will do is to bench bleed it and if doesnt work I will have to buy a new MC. any clue of how to test if my mc is working?

get hose clamps. clamp off all 4 hoses to each wheel. step on the brakes and see if its still mushy. if it is your master is internally leaking or its leaking somewhere before the calipers (unlikely since you just disconnected them at the calipers)


This happens sometimes when you leave the lines empty and step on the pedal all the way to the floor.

But before you condemn the master try bleeding the master, same process of pump open close. except you crack one of the lines at the master sometimes theres a bleed valve on the master too. or bench bleed it, same thing.

Does your car have ABS?

How old are your brakelines?

Just to double check what you did. Step on the brakes. Release the pressure on the calipers through the bleeder valve. Close bleeder valve. Release brake pedal. repeat.

I don't think it is your mastercylinder. Sounds more like you have air still trapped in your braking system.

Strange. Never heard of anyone doing it this way. It's always been taught press on the brakes. Release bleeder. Close bleeder. Release brake pedal. Repeat.

Surprised no one asked this yet. Did you clamp your lines when the calipers were removed? If you let all the fluid drain from the lines and the master, while you were painting your calipers, it's very likely that your master completely drained - in which case, you should've bench bled it before attempting to bleed the system.

1. Keep the master full at all times during the process
2. Bench bleed the master
--you can leave it mounted if you have a helper
--the point is to bleed the master, separately from the system
--just loop the lines from the master output, back into the master
--smooth strokes and make sure there are no bubbles when the pedal is released or they will get sucked back in
----just take you time
3. Bleed from the furthest to closest to the master or ABS module
--hold pedal down, bleeder open, bleeder close, release pedal
--repeat until you get no air coming out of that bleeder
--do all 4 corners

***If you want to be more thorough, start over again, bleeding the furthest to closest but:
--pump the pedal 3 times, smooth, full strokes, hold pedal down, open bleeder, close, repeat until no air present.

***If the guy in the car releases the pedal, even a little, while the bleeder is open, he just sucked air into the line and you'll have to start that corner again.

***Like Phil said, all the bleeders should be pointed upwards - if not, you got the left and right mixed up. Also make sure the rubber lines are tight to the calipers and both copper washers are in place.

yeah I didnt clamp the lines and the fluid were drained completely, I will definetely do the bench bleed when I have time. thanks for everyones replies:thumbsup: