All set to perform a brake fluid transfusion today and it quickly resulted in no brakes.... pedal goes almost to the floor with the engine off and all the way to floor with the engine on. The Parking brake light stays on... the abs light does not.

I attached the mighty-vac to the right rear and it would not pull much fluid out at all. I then resorted to the 2 person method of bleeding brakes and still just a trickle through the hose. Then..... nothing no brakes at all.

The brakes worked fine before this, the fluid was just black and need to be changed. The last time I had a clogged line (different car) the brakes still worked, they were just weak. This almost seems like a bad master cylinder but what kind of coincidence would that be?

Oh, yeah and I have to pick up my daughter in less than 3 hours... no $$ to buy any parts

Are your brake lines collapsing under the pressure of the mighty vac? Try just gravity bleeding?

Sounds like the master cylinder has blown an internal seal... sorry...

Well chit. Looks like it might be down for the winter then. I will try completely removing the bleeder valve on the caliper in question and see if I can get any fluid out soon.

well... its not that expensive, really.

If you the fluid you added didn't come back out, then it's gotta be an issue with the m/c. Try bench bleeding it.

I plan on removing the MC, disassembling and inspecting. I've never done this before so I hope any problems with it are obvious (wishful thinking, I know). From the photos I've seen it looks fairly straight forward, a couple pistons, springs, stop bolts, and about 10 o-ring seals.

Is there a good way to clean out the reservoir? The only thing I can think of is repeated partial fills with brake fluid, shaking and emptying.

i tried to do the same thing about a month ago and got nowhere fast. the brakes still work fine but i couldn't hardly get any fluid to come out. i have j55's. i never bled the brakes on the car before and tried cause the cars been sitting a while. i need to get a vac pump and see if that will help at all..

I think I found the problem. I don't know what this sludge stuff is but some of it must have come loose when I added fluid.

Now, can I pull brake fluid back through the line (vacate the lines at top by the master cylinder)? Or, will this reverse flow hurt something in the ABS system? Or.... should I leave the fluid in the lines until the MC is replaced and bleed the system normally?

Attach file:

---

  MCe.jpg (132.28 KB)

I'd venture to say that black crap in there is from the seals deteriorating and you need a rebuild.

Matthew

When you think about it I'm amazed our braking systems work as well as they do! being that brake fluid absorbs moisture and will begin eating away at rubber seals ina relatively short period of time. Usually the only time we check the system is when we change brakes. I try to purge my vehicles systems every other year. After writing that my pickup has gone 3 years.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions gurus. Fixed and back on the road!