I've bled brakes before to recycle fluid, no problem. I changed two rear calipers, though, and I cannot get it to bleed properly. I did rear right, left, front right, left. I have removed all the visible bubbles, but still the brakes are really spongy. When closed up, the master cylinder is not dropping in level at all and I'm pretty confident there's no leak; just air somewhere.

I am guessing air got up pretty high in the system. My next approach is to try a vacuum bleeder, but has anybody got any other tips? It seems like if air is in the master cylinder, no amount of pumping (without a pressure bleeder) is going to solve it.

If I need a Pressure bleeder, where could I get one?

 

When I put my Z32 calipers on, I drained the entire system and also put SS lines at all four corners. I used a Mity Vac and didnt have any issues at all. You might have another issue.

When you "pump" the brakes, about how many times do you need to pump them before the pedal has an acceptable feel to it?

 

It never gets it. When I turn it on it gives me enough brake pressure to slow while doing down a mild hill (I tried in front of the house), but consistently from the first pump to any other number of pumps never builds enough pressure to really get some solid braking going.

The master never drained while I was filling it up, FWIW.

I am thinking of the $20 harborfreight vacuum pump (Advance auto parts one is $60, ha!). Unfortunately that company that makes the pressure bleeders doesn't appear to sell any in Rochester, NY.

 

If you drained the master, then you have to most likely bleed the whole system. Start with the master and work your way down each corner, following the proper bleeding procedure. If required, also bleed the ABS.

Also, try gravity bleeding. It works more efficiently.

 

I never did drain the master--is it possible air got in it anyway? Are there good isntructions on bleeding it and the ABS?

I didn't disconnect the battery while doing the initial bleed. For some reason I read elsewhere to do it, so it's worth a shot, I guess.

 

download the FSM if you dont already have it. Type in "Infinity/nissan fsm" and it should be there. maybe you are missing something stupid. When i bled my clutch i didnt realize there was an upper and lower bleed port until i checked out the FSM

 

You used the improper sequence. Per the FSM it is:


RR > LF > LR > RF

 

If you didn't drain the master, then you shouldn't have to worry about it. The same goes for the ABS. Air would not get in the master unless you drained it.

Try bleeding the vehicle with the engine running. Sometimes the vacuum assist may make things easier.

Our cars have a rather small brake system. A power bleeder should not be 100% necessary. If your rears are not bleeding, you may have a restriction somewhere. Take the line off the caliper and check if fluid comes out of it during bleeding. Are you getting any fluid at all out of the rears? Try line clamping the rears and check pedal height. You may also be sucking in air from the calipers. I've seen it happen before.

 

Thanks, guys. All calipers' bleed screws are good and plenty of fluid coming out of them, so I don't think a stoppage anywhere. I'm glad I hopefully do not have to bleed abs or master, but I agree based on above that the master doesn't sound that hard based on the above description.

I realize also I did not quite do the correct order for the corners. In any case, since Harbor Freight has vacuum pumps for $20 I'm going to see about giving one of them a go (in part because, as we all know, wives seem to feel quite put out by pumping the brakes; now they know how we feel when we're told to empty the dishwasher).

 

ROFL!!!! Hilarious....but extremely accurate!!!

 

Hi guys, well I did it again and the car is driveable. I cannot tell yet if it's as good as it was (probably not), but definitely I'm getting there. I followed more closely the proper instructions, which say to do rear right, front left, rear left, front right. I also disconnected the battery (I have no idea why it said to do that; disconnecting the ABS, yes, but not sure how/why it matters).

I got the $20 vacuum unit from harbor freight. It is good EXCEPT for the life of me I could not seat a tube around a couple of nipples. First caliper went ok, second awesome, third it was impossible to do, and I have several different sizes; it just wanted to suck air from around the bleed screw. I may buy some different tubing from lowes next time I bleed and try it again. So for the last two I had the mrs use the pedal. Unlike last night (maybe because of battery?) there was a great sucking around after each pump, as fluid was pulled from the MC.

 

Right/rear then left/rear then right/front then last left/front! Work from the fartherest to the closest. Unplug ABS or disconnect battery you don't need to do both.... On that left/rear see if the bleed screw is clogged with debris. Clear it, then get to sucking! GL