Veloce06

Car is a 2002 SE with auto trans. Long story short on the car. It sat for some time with many issues. Engine and transmission have been replaced. Working on the brakes now.

Replaced all calipers, rotors and brake lines as the old ones were of questionable use. Brake fluid was pretty old. So, lines were completely drained when old calipers were removed. Brakes were then bled, but still mushy pedal. Bled the MC using the FSM method, but no change. Bought a kit to bleed MC (plastic adapters with clear tubing). I bled the MC with the clear tubing placed in the MC reservoir and pumped pedal until no air was seen. This did not solve the mushy pedal. After each attempt of bleeding the MC, all calipers were bled as per FSM steps.

Thinking I might have a bad MC or something else wrong. I pulled the MC off a parts car and bench bled that. I then noticed that the front calipers were installed on the wrong side as the air bleeder was on the bottom. So, I swapped those.

Now this time after making sure the replacement MC was bled, I went about bleeding the calipers. Started at RR, then FL, then RL. When I got to the FR, it was very weird. I'm bleeding using a mityvac hand vacuum pump. On the FR, I connected it and it would hold vacuum just fine. When I opened the bleeder I would get a few seconds of fluid coming out and then it would just constantly bubble. Nothing like there was a small air leak at the bleeder or so as those are typically very small bubbles. This was more like a very large leak or the line was almost totally empty.

Here is a video I took of the situation:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

Could find a way to embed the video - sorry.

Anyways, I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what might be causing this. I've bled brakes many times before and never had something like this happen.

Thanks

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

The small bubbles you get when holding vacuum are air being sucked through the threads or where the tube fits on the bleeder valve. You don't get this with pressure bleeding.

If you want to eliminate it you can use a small amount of thread tape on the bleeder valve and zip tie the hose to the bleeder valve for a tighter fit.

Veloce06

Yes, I know about the small bubbles from the air sucking through the threads or around the clear tubing. I'm not worried about those (and I've already put teflon tape around the threads - it just dissolves pretty quickly from the brake fluid). What I'm really worried about is the larger bubbles that start 10 - 15 seconds after opening the bleeder. It's like the brake lines go dry or something and it sucks in mostly air after that.

Veloce06

I'm wondering, what would dirt or something clogging the line look like? Anyone know which brake line coming out of the actuator is the one for the FR caliper? The FMS shows the one closest to the front of the vehicle being the one for FR caliper. Can I take that as fact?

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

A clogged line wouldn't cause your bubbles. If it bled without issues and it was sealed while it sat there probably aren't any clogs.

If you are sucking air from anywhere it's most likely the connections on the new brake line. See if you can tighten them any further without stripping them.

I would also try pressure/pump bleeding the brakes with a partner. You're less likely to suck in air and if there is a leak it will show as a fluid leak.

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

I bought a vacuum bleeder and don't use it. It's pretty pointless. I do use the reservoir and hose, though. You can pump the pedal yourself and you're done in no time.

Veloce06

Last night I went ahead pressure bled that caliper. Didn't see any issues during the bleeding and everything is working great now.

Not sure why that caliper was so picky being bled, but glad it is working now.

Thanks for all the suggestions.