Thread: brake bleeding question

Originally Posted by EHB

ok i just bought the car..2000 gtp.. and the previous owner had recently just put on all new brake lines. i put on new pads and rotors all the way around. well the brakes were somewhat spongy but not too aweful bad , but they obviously needed bled . so we do the two man bleeding procedure and while not getting a rock hard pedal it felt a little better..that is until i started the car and they went to the floor with little resistance. so we repeated the procedure 3 more times and same results. put the car on the lift while i pumped the brakes and can't find a leak in the lines anywhere. so what happened ? i went from ok brakes to virtually no brakes . could we have somehow screwed up the master cylinder or brake booster during the bleeding ? oh and yes we made sure the reservoir was at the appropriate level the whole time.

also flushed the anti freeze (with machine) and can't get rid of the air bubbles. doesn't over heat , no coolant in the oil , pressure tested it. haven't got to fixing the heater yet so i can't check to see if it's blowing hot ,but the in and out lines both get hot so it's running through the heater coil. the low coolant light is on but it's probably just a dirty sensor. coolant level is good. don't see any leaks. water pump maybe ? also added new pressure cap and thermostat.

This might seem like a dumb question, but were the brake bleeders facing up on those front calipers? I've seen too many with the bleeder facing south cause this issue. Otherwise, get a second person to start the car and push the brakes. Watch the fluid level in the master cylinder. If the level rises when the brakes are pressed, then guaranteed failed master cylinder. As for the cooling system, there's a bleeder on top of the thermostat housing to bleed air...you can try using that. Or you can remove the thermostat housing and fill coolant the rest of the way through there...that'll eliminate the majority of it in the engine. Remove heater hose from alternator bracket and "beer bong" it with coolant to eliminate air in the heater core.