Larry Weinstein

I recently replaced the master cylinder and four stainless brake lines on my 89 turbo. I also replaced the hard line from the ABS unit to the right front corner. And I replaced the front calipers with used units. The two front calipers appear to be good condition but I did not rebuild them. I bled the brakes twice in the correct sequence, rr, lf, rf, and lf. However, the pedal travels almost to the floor before the brakes engage solidly. Before I rebuild the front calipers, does anyone have a suggestion where else I might look for the problem? I'm using new ATE Blue fluid with Padgid Black pads.

If you think I should go ahead with the rebuild, where would you recommend I have the work done? These are the turbo S brake calipers.

Redshift

The exact same thing happened with our Mercedes S-class after I overhauled the front brake calipers. It was confounding since I had bled the brake lines twice already. I discovered that my error was in not depressurizing the brake booster before bleeding.

So try this before opening any bleeder screw; (with the ignition off) depress the brake pedal hard several times until the resistance increases. Wait momentarily and repeat. Three times should be good enough. Then bleed each corner in the normal sequence using only a pressure bleeder such as the one by Motive. (Doing it the old-fashioned way can really test your marriage.)

Larry Weinstein

Thanks. I'll try that.

IceShark

I'm not sure if this really matters much, but I have wondered that maybe the proper bleeding sequence should be reversed. The ABS unit is on the right side and the brake line runs are longer to the left side of the car.

Alan C.

Larry,

Not the same car but my 94 3.6 turbo was a bear to bleed after opening the lines. Had to do with the ABS and accumulator.

The note above about depressurizing was one of my issues.

I'll be at a mechanic friends house today and I'll ask him about your situation and post back.

Alan C.

fast951

A pressure bleeder helps.

Also, make sure your braided brake hoses have the correct inside diameter.
Years ago, I have seen some that were too large and caused me similar problem. I doubt that's your problem today, just something to keep in mind if evrything else failed.

Larry Weinstein

Looks like Redshift got it right. I pumped the brakes a few times hard an bled the brakes again. A lot of air came through this time (though I had already run an entire quart of ATE blue through the system.)Right rear and front left had the most air.

Thanks.