ok so last week we had a go at bleeding my brakes. no air was coming out, but i still ahve no pedal. i ahve never had good brakes in armageddon, yet almost everything has been replaced.

i've got new (2 yrs old now) drums on the front, had the master cyl reconditioned, replaced all slave cylinders. there is decent meat on all pads, although the rear passenger side probably could do with being replaced, as we have better looking spare ones.

could there be some air hidden right up the lines somewhere that hasnt come out when being bled? tomorrow im going o ahve a go with one of those things that pressurises the sysyem.

but what could explain my always bad brakes??? they are the next issue i want to sort on armageddon. no point going if you can't stop as well!!!

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78 Leyland Mini - Prince

When you press the pedal, is it no pedal and then really hard? Or is it soft and squishy all the way down?
If you pump it like 5 times does the pedal get harder or still nothing?

Matt will tell you you have to unadjust the front brakes to bleed and adjust rears.
Search for brake bleed and Matt Read's post (or posts, he has explained it several times in different posts)

To answer your question, yes there could always be air stuck in the system...
Your brake master cylinder might be the wrong one, too big too... but do it matts way first before you go taking off the master.

Cheers,
Peter.

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Click here for the Turbo Conversion Thread!

yeah no pedal. a few pumps was getting a little bit of pressure behind it, but now nothing.

will get under and back the fronts off then, and get stuck into the back

dont think the master is too big. hope not!!!

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78 Leyland Mini - Prince

Make sure the drums arent oversized.
I would replace the shoes. It was the solution to the mokes problems.
Doesnt cost much.

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Dog Food! Most kids like it more than Broccoli.

Hey Dylan, i had the same problem, re-kit two master cylinder, bleed the brake a couple of time. At the end the master cylinder was just too gone, new master cylinder and everithing is now fine.

But again, i am not expert im i

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[quote="grey 64"]Make sure the drums arent oversized. quote]

ditto - measure the front drums... I worked on a clubman last year where just about everything was right, but the drums were waay oversize and it had no brakes. New front drums and it's a different car (the owner said so!)

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Time for an update..........

I've replaced the rear shoes on Dylan's car, then connected the Gunsons One Man Bleed thingy. For those that don't know this brilliant tool, you pressurise your brake system using the spare tyre deflated to about 10 PSI - air pressurises a container of brake fluid - the fluid goes to the master cylinder, you then release the brake nipple and watch any bubbles and old fluid go down a plastic hose into a jar (same as usual).

Anyway, had a problem because there was no fluid coming out of both rears and up front, the fluid wasnt coming out of the nipples but leaking out of the thread - think maybe both front nipples are blocked up with 'crud', but the rears......god knows why there was zero fluid coming out. Will have to try again tomorow. But, can I remove the front nipples and stick a piece of wire through to unblock them, or will that damage them??

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Rod
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v607/Rodney/

Yes, you can clean the bleeder with a bit of wire or a drill bit.

If you can't get fluid at the rear cylinders try undoing the pipe where it goes into the valve on the rear subframe and see if you are getting fluid there. Work your way along the car and see where you can't get fluid.

as well as cleaning out the bleeders, it sounds like the whole lot needs a good flush. Get a bottle of metho and run it through the system, it'll get all the fluid and crud and muck out - you'll probably get a shock at how yukky it all is

then get 2 different (compatible) brands of fresh fluid, run one of them through, then the other, bleed until the second colour comes through

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

If you haven't already done it, change the brake hoses. They don't last forever.

front drums were new 2.5-3 years ago, were right size then. shouldnt wear down too much in that time frame? especially since the car has probably been off the road for about a year in that time. bloody engine! now its bloody brakes!!!

i hooked up the pressure bleeding kit thing, all correctly, with fluid in the master as well as the reservoir on the kit. no worries.

connect to the tyre, then inspect master to make sure everything is ok. and it was pissing out the back...

does it have a breather apart from the one in the cap? or is the thing stuffed AGAIN. so frustrating

decided to take a time out on here for a halfer to get my crap together

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78 Leyland Mini - Prince

Woohoo.................we have 'stopping power'. Dylan says that he's never had such good brakes!!! Geez, me and my offsider - that's Dylan must be bloody good.

Just wait till I send him the bill

Hooroo

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Rod
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v607/Rodney/

Good to hear that it all worked out.

What did you end up doing in the end to get them working? Just unadjust & then bleed etc?

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"In two years time your car will be like a lady's clothes, out of date, my car will still be in fashion when I am dead" - Sir Alec speaking to Pininfarina

shouldve gotten on the phone Rodney or Dylan.......me and the family were down your way this arvo couldve assisted some how....

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDMkVq1jRGU

DOH.........Now you tell me Scott Should've popped in mate, if only for a coffee.

Yep....unadjusted them, bled them, adjusted up again and all fine. There was nice new brake fluid coming out of the tube into the jar so it's all good now. Stopping power is better than 'going power' IMHO

Hooroo

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Rod
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v607/Rodney/