Wife says it's hard,I think it could be harder
 

:) hows that for a header?

Spongy soft brakes saga......continued

I bought one of those mighty-vac style bleeder pumps. Tried it out today. Can't tell if my air is coming from the bleeder threads or out of the system. But I am sucking some air for sure.

Did the rounds 2 or 3X with it...Then got the wife in the car to pump it 5 times& hold for each corner. Did that 3X around too andshe says its definitely harder on the first pump than last weekend when I got her involved initially.

I don't hit the floor anymore on the first pump, its about half way.
The next pump is half that again for travel.

Is it just a matter of getting a feel for manual brakes seems the pedal could have been higher on first stab.

I will continue to bleed it later. BTW I have floor mounted pedals with a bit of mechanical advantage in the pedal leverage on that piston...Getting a feel for it may be a matter of a raodtest which is much later. I don't know how touchy this type of brake effort will translate on the road

Tim

The bleeder valve on some calipers is not on the top. Some have to be taken off the axle and tilted to get all the air out. Jim

Still at it Tim????

Man I feel your pain ,brakes are so simple and sometimes they just wont cooperate.

Set your e-brake hard, tell me what happens.

Hi Jim /Karl
 

My bleeders are at the top but on the edge, but I wonder if there is some slight pocket sitting above it in the corner of the caliper. I will try to pop out a bolt and tip it to make the nipple the high point.

I will set the brake on and see if they improve.

Do you guys think it makes a difference if the hand brake is on while bleeding the system? I have the integral GM Caddy stuff on the rears.

Thanks
Tim

Hmmm,,,generally a low pedal condition is indicative of "adjustment". This assumes that you probably have indeed removed the air from the system, therefore pedal does NOT feel "spongy". It's firm, but low on initial thrust. The difference between "spongy" and "firm" can be subtle!

The pads (shoes if you got drum) are to far away from the rotor (drum) and the first part of the brake pedal travel is simply "moving" them into position. Now were talking thousands of an inch here, it's not like you can "see it". On the second stroke, there are "ready" and the pedal engages much earlier.

On the back, by applying the emergency brake, you bring the pads (shoes) into contact. Therefore, when you apply the foot brake there is no initial loss of pad (shoe) travel (or less than before, because the emer brake doesn't affect the front remember) and the pedal is firm right away.

Having the emer brake on while bleeding should not make ANY difference. It only brings the brakes into contact with the rotor and you can do that by simply "pumping" up the brakes.

With disc brakes there is really no way to "adjust" the fronts. The pistons should just slightly back off enough to relieve tension on the rotor but still be close enough to not require "moving" in closer. Jack the wheel up and spin the tires\rotors. You feel ANY drag at all? It should have just a very slight "tension" immediatly after applying the brakes and then tyring to turn the wheel. If not it COULD indicate the pistons are being "sucked" back into their bore to far after pressure is released. A "warped" rotor will casue them to "move away" as it "wobbles", but you would likely feel a strange "pulsation" when applying the brakes if this were the case. Again, this can be very subtle.

Ernie

Is the comparative sizing correct for the calipers and respective master cylinders????

Rick

Tim:.
Size Matters!

Come on guys? With that thread title, no one's takin the low road? Man am I disappointed...

JB

,,the Gasholes must be busy,,

Ernie

...just too easy...:rolleyes:

Thought about it--but it was a very serious inquiry--just didn't seem right ;)

Whaler, you might look at 'speed bleeders' , advertised as a one man operation but you will need two people.
You need to see when the bubbles clear up, their actually miniature check valves, about $7.00 each.

Hi everyone....Got home from the local hockeygame and thought to have a quick 11:00 pm peek at the fllor around my front calipers .....sure as %#@* there were 2 tiny puudles of brake fluid under each banjo. Thinking I had this behind me I was cheesed but also happy because a leak would mean air.
So on go the coveys and in go 2 new copper crush washers in each side. The ones that came out were nothing like the new one for meat. Can u imagine Ford wanted 2 bucks each for these things.......lol No wonder there better than the one that came with the calipers or hoses.
I tightened those puppies up and proceeded to pull the air out with the vac pump. Once I thought I had her about done I called the trusty wife out to pressure pump it while i hit it with the mighty vac at the other end. Using two methods in combo.

I had a much better pedal now. I left it for bed.

In the morning I went out to find no leaks and a hard pedal on the first stab that essentially doesn't change too much on the next pumps either.

Seems to be good now and we will see what this virgin brake system gets like later with raod tests etc.

Next comes the McCleod T/O ......
Everyone Thanks for the help.

Perry, I was that close to buying speed bleeders next!

Tim

PS FYI having the e-brake yanked on did not make any difference in how the pedal felt while pumping.