I'm trying to bleed the brakes on my deuce hiboy build without much success. I'm using an under-floor mounted Corvette master cylinder, Wilwood 10 psi Residual Pressure Valves on front and rear lines near the MC, self-adjusting drum brakes all around. After tightening and fixing the few leaks, I started bleeding the brakes the traditional way with an assistant pumping the pedal while I watched for bubbles at each wheel cylinder. We never really got a good firm pedal. I then tried a vacuum brake bleeding kit with results that are strange to me. I can draw 24 in. Hg. on the vacuum gauge but very little air or fluid is drawn out of the wheel cylinders. It seems like something is preventing the fluid/air mix from exiting the wheel cylinder. Master cylinder top cap on or off, it doesn't matter. Crappy pedal or no pedal at all. I'm beginning to think that the problem may be with the two residual pressure valves. Has anyone had experience with these valves giving problems? Does anyone have experience with these vacuum brake bleeding sets from Speedway?
I didn't "bench bleed" it but working the pedal for about 20 minutes in the car brought a helluva lot of bubbles to the surface in both chambers. Maybe not enough??
What calipers are you using in the rear? If they are the Cadillac calipers with the built in e-brakes? If so then you have to make sure they are adjusted correctly first. Had this problem with my '48 GMC.
Some additonal information would help. Did you bench bleed the Master Cylinder first? If you have a vaccum booster did you make sure to adjust the play between the master and the booster? Did you preadjust the drum brakes before bleeding them? Are the Residual valves installed in the correct direction? Are you getting fluid out of any of the wheel cylinders? Are you bleeding the system starting at the right rear then left rear. Then the front right and front left?
No calipers, these are all self-adjusting drum brakes on the car. Definitely not Cadillac stuff. The rears have the usual e-brake arm where I have installed a Lokar e-brake set of cables.
1) No, did not bench bleed the MC 2) No vacuum booster on the car 3) Yes, did pre-adjust the drums on all 4 wheels 4) Yes, they are installed with the arrows pointing in the right direction 5) Yes, there is fluid coming out of all 4 wheel cylinders 6) Yes, we did it as you describe.
Unless you have bench bled it, you are relieving yourself into the wind. A pressure bleeder may help. I would personally take out the master and bench bleed it, it probably can be done in the car though. Bob
You could "bench bleed" the master on the car since you don't have a booster. I recently had a devil of a time getting all of the air out of a system and tried a pressure pot, vacuum bleder and the old school method. Bench bled twice, etc. I never got 100% pedal so I tried the 1 way speed bleeders that replace the original bleeders. They allow you to crack open each cylinder and pump the fluid through without a helper. This was the first time I tried them and they really worked. Maybe worth a try.
Another thing. Try tapping the brake line at various couplings in the system to brake loose any trapped air pockets. I had some trapped above the rear end at the T-Fitting when I did mine. I don't know why air gets stuck like that but it did.
You may be barking up the wrong tree, I don't know what the diameter of master cylinder is or the diameter of you wheel cylinder. The master cylinder may just not have enough volume to have a high pedal. If that is the problem then your brakes will work fine, you'll just have a low pedal.
I am guessing that we are getting crappy chinese master cylinders. TWO of my cars with almost new masters are not working right. Both drop to the floor, pumping does nothing and I have bled them
Make sure that the master cylinder is operating with the maximum or full "stroke". Assuming the system is adjusted properly, not leaking or sucking in air, and importantly, if the master has been pumped dry or semi dry during the bleeding operation you will have to bleed all the wheel cylinders again! You could try to gravity bleed the system. raise the vehicle on stands, remove wheels, place clear plastic bleed pipes on bleeders, run into glass jars, open bleeders, leave for a few hours, keep topping up master as necessary, it is the syphon principal that bleeds the system so make sure that the master cylinder is a few inches higher than normal, and that the bleed tubes into the jars at ground level actually go into some clean fluid. Do not tighten cap on master cylinder while bleeding (may cause a vacuum and prevent the process from working, just replace to keep out debris) This method normally works on cars that have very convoluted pipework such as kit cars and Land Rovers. I hope this helps.
Gravity bleeding only works if the master cylinder his higher than wheel cylinders. Doubt it will work with an under the floor master. Good idea otherwise. I'm to impatient to wait however..
Is the Corvette master cylinder for DISC brakes? I was told all of them are for 4 wheel disc brakes & if so, I don't think they have enough volumn to activate drum brakes.
Ah, please school me on that one. Now that you mention it, the pedal throw does seem a little short. I'm using a 1948 Ford pickup truck brake/clutch pedal set
Thanks to all of you. I'm going back in the barn to continue working this problem. I'll let you know how I make out. In the meantime, I hope I have pasted below a short video of the nailhead first start in my hiboy. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2123495164346
Sounds like the pedal ratio is the problem. simply put at full pedal travel the push rod does not travel the required distance INWARDS to push the Master Cyl piston a full stroke Also the free play should allow the pist to fully return to stop position so the opening in the reservoir's bottom can be exposed allowing fluid to fill the bore after each pump
I had a similar issue withmy 40 pickup....I installed all new lines, and was running one along the top of the left frame rail. That was actually trapping enough air to be a problem....The fix was to rin it inside the lower side of the frame , and that helped. Some fittings can tral enough small air bubbles to escape the bleeding process,....and it doesn't take many to be a headache. Check valves...Double check which direction they are installed......They can be put in backwards. Hope you get it solved....... 4TTRUK
I just went through this with my truck. Wilwood tandem master and Wilwood calipers at all 4 corners. You need to bleed the master with plastic hoses looped back into the reservoir below fluid level to purge all bubbles from the master. It can be done in the car but the master needs to be level when bleeding it too. Once the master is not pushing bubbles or purging bubbles in the reservoir then you can use the vacuum unit to pull fluid through the system to each corner. The push-rod should also contact the master at a fraction of an inch of movement to applying the brakes. It should travel freely through the entire range and bottom out before the pedal hits the floor. I bled all corners with the vacuum unit by myself and then went back the next day with my girlfriend and manually bled them again to be sure. Good firm pedal and no fade. Good luck.
Problem Solved! ChopRods was right in that the pedal travel was insufficient and would not allow the dual chamber unit to function properly. The problem was the "hot rod" style brake return spring kit installed on the brake rod ( a generic unit is shown in the picture, it's not mine.) The length of the spring kit did not allow the pedal/rod assembly to fully move in or out of the MC. So I removed it and fabricated a bracket to connect a return spring like Henry originally did it. Bleeding the brakes was then completed in short order. Many thanks to all who gave advice!!!