G-body brake bleeding problem

[tigger]

I put new front brake hoses on my Cutlass today and then, as the thread title says, I ran into problems bleeding the system. Brake fluid is getting down into the calipers, but there's no pressure behind it. The brake pedal goes all they way to the floor, whether the car is running or not. Ideas?

 

[MaTaR]

bad hoses or bad install? im not a mechanic sorry i couldnt help .im sure someone had this problem b4 here . goodluck

 

[Spectre]

I put new front brake hoses on my Cutlass today and then, as the thread title says, I ran into problems bleeding the system. Brake fluid is getting down into the calipers, but there's no pressure behind it. The brake pedal goes all they way to the floor, whether the car is running or not. Ideas?

Check for air leaks or improperly closed caliper bleed screws. Or, more commonly on that era General Morons car, bleed screws that are either rusted or just plain worn out and necessitating replacement.

Did you also replace or rebuild the calipers?

 

[GRtak]

That system should be pretty easy to bleed unless there is an air leak. Is that all you changed was the hoses? And why not change the back hose at the same time? It has been around just as long as the front.

Check the steel lines all the way back. Also it could have a wheel cylinder or caliper leaking or maybe a bad master cylinder.

 

[tigger]

bad hoses or bad install? im not a mechanic sorry i couldnt help .im sure someone had this problem b4 here . goodluck

Naw, the hoses are good and the install was straight forward. Thanks though.

Check for air leaks or improperly closed caliper bleed screws. Or, more commonly on that era General Morons car, bleed screws that are either rusted or just plain worn out and necessitating replacement.

Did you also replace or rebuild the calipers?

The bleeder screws may be a problem as they're pretty nasty. I didn't replace the calipers because they were functioning perfectly fine before; no sticking and they could lock the front tires up.

That system should be pretty easy to bleed unless there is an air leak. Is that all you changed was the hoses? And why not change the back hose at the same time? It has been around just as long as the front.

Check the steel lines all the way back. Also it could have a wheel cylinder or caliper leaking or maybe a bad master cylinder.

The lines are in great shape and the brakes worked fine before I replaced the hoses. The rear brake hose looks fine so I left it. The car just had a soft pedal due to the rotten front hoses. I've read some stuff about the proportioning valve on these cars screwing with brake bleeding. I'll look into it tonight.

 

[GRtak]

The bleeder screws may be a problem as they're pretty nasty. I didn't replace the calipers because they were functioning perfectly fine before; no sticking and they could lock the front tires up.

Would the rear brakes lock up too?

 

[JipJopJones]

I had lots of issues bleeding the brakes on my Caballero. I ended up replacing all the lines to the rear and the rear wheel cylinders. I know you probably have different issues than my Cab had, but I know your pain. These cars seem finicky when it comes to bleeding the brakes. My CJ was never that difficult.

I'd try what spectre said about replacing the bleeder screws.

 

[tigger]

The bleeder screws were definitely a problem; both fronts were clogged. The system is still a pain to bleed though. To add to the fun, the line balancing my rear air shocks split and I had to replace it too. And I wanted to have this thing sold by now haha!