Chunkerz

Yeah I wasn't planning to blow air through the reservoir. That'd be a stupid thing to do. I was planning to blow air through the line itself. Should I blow it backwards up towards the MC (with the line disconnected from it of course), or towards the rear of the car?

Arominus

I would start going towards the rear, as thats likely where the clog is. That said you may need to go both ways.

Make sure you have a drain hose on either end so you don't spray brake fluid all over your car. You will want to clamp in on the line lightly (so you don't crush anything) otherwise it may come off when your putting pressure through it.

admiralkhole

The brake line on the left hand side of the MC go to the rear. The two in the right go to the fronts

Van

The master cylinder has two plungers inside of it, which are different diameters. The larger diameter is closer to the booster (firewall) and is for the front calipers (larger diameter pistons, so more volume of fluid is needed).

LeRox

Helpful information indeed as I will be bleading a mushy brake issue of my owne.....

Chunkerz

Thanks for the help everyone! It looks like I broke a few toes, so this will have to be put on the back burner for a while...

mel_t_vin

Just wondering if you ever got your brake lines unclogged and your car back on the road?

Chunkerz

I had to blow out the brake lines a few times with my compressor and pump about 3 cans of fluid through them to get them unclogged. The car is now back on the road (for now) and is my DD until my VW is all sorted out.

mel_t_vin

Happy to hear you got things squared away. So, what came out of the lines? Congealed brake fluid, mixed with grime? Out of curiosity, when was the last time you flushed the system?

If you're interested, send me a PM with contact information and I'll add you to the growing, DC-metro, 944 email distribution list.

Chunkerz

When I blew out the lines brake fluid and what looked like little bits of dirt came out. There was dirt in the bottom of the brake fluid reservoir too, so I'm guessing that's what was clogging my lines. I have no idea when the brakes were last flushed. I've only had the car for 17ish months and the only thing brake related mentioned in the service history is a set of pads, so as far as I know the flush I just did is its first in 25 years.

mel_t_vin

Wow...possibly the first flush in 25 years?

That would explain your issues. Suggested flush interval, depending on vehicle usage, is every two or three years. Your car's braking performance should now be night and day.

Chunkerz

Rebuilding the calipers, flushing the brakes, new pads/rotors/fluid, and SS lines really brought my brakes back to life. I don't understand why people think the NA brakes suck. I can stop hard enough to launch me through the windshield. I just need some decent tires and I'll be able to stop faster than an F1 car.

william_b_noble

FWIW, if anyone needs them, I have the brake lines from an 87S sitting here looking for a home.

mel_t_vin

I used to have an '83 and given the power-to-weight of a 944, I think the car is braked well from the factory, as most Porsches are.

What brake fluid is in the system now?

Depending on your use of the car, track/autocross/canyon carving, it [and any other car] would benefit from routing more cooling air to the rotors. Back in the day, I do remember boiling the brake fluid during higher-speed autocross courses, on occasion. Though, I don't recall if I was running Ate blue/gold at the time. That would've definitely helped my plight.

Happy to hear you're back to factory fresh brakes.

Chunkerz

I was originally going to use ATE Type 200 (the yellow stuff), but I ran out of fluid so I switched to ATE Super Blue. The color change was nice because I could tell when all of the old stuff was out. It took 6 cans of fluid and many 4 letter words to get the brake/clutch pedals to feel right, but it was worth it.

The car is mainly for street use, but I'd like to try autocross or maybe take it to a track day once I get new tires.