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Just bled my brakes and still the brakes don't do anything


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I just bled my brakes after putting 280zx discs on the back and they still don't work. the pedal is still way too soft and the pads don't move at all. I have 2 ideas;

 

-I didn't touch the front brakes. do I still have to bleed them?

-there's still too much air in the lines maybe? I guess in that case I'd just keep bleeding them some more? (no air bubbles were coming out of either side and I did the one with the most brake line between it and the mc first)

 

which is more likely?

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Are you trying to bleed them by yourself?

You might have to open the front bleeders as the front brakes are holding the plunger from moving far enough to bleed the backs.

What I have done in the past was to fill a cup half full of brake fluid, I pushed a small clear hose onto the bleeder valve in the front and put it in the cup, then open the bleeder, now bleed the back brakes, when you get no air from the back bleeders anymore, close all the bleeders and hopefully your done.

Do you understand fully what I just discribed?

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How are you calipers mounted? pics?

 

I had the same problem when I did my first set of 200sx rear calipers on the back of a dime. I had the calipers mounted on top with the bleeders pointing up and everything, (just like you're supposed to), but I just could not get a solid pedal. After checking everything many many times, and pulling my hair out, since I had no air bubbles at all, I unmounted the calipers and turned them on their side to bleed them. Turned out there was a trapped pocket of air inside the caliper itself. Then they bled just fine, so I mounded them back on the top, and they work perfect, lol.

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What I do is run a long clear plastic line to a bottle with brake fluid already in there.

 

so then I just pump and add brake fluid till all the air is out. and when the pedal returns back to normal position if is sucks anything back it will be just brake fluid and no air bubbles cause it will take to long before it travels all the way back up to the bleed screw.

 

also soemtime when you bleed a used master there is a wear ring inside the master when the master is bleed the o ring or rubber part might get cut and thus the master dooesnt really work again. apedal will still go down and not hold pressure. air bubbles will come up from inside the master.

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Creepy, my calipers are on top like yours. I guess that means I should give it a try flipping them over and bleeding them again. Hopefully itll work for me like it worked for you.

 

 

On a side note. Could a power bleeder help this nonsense? I feel like the vacuum would work better than pushing the air out

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I tried it all (standard, vacuum, etc...), and nothing worked till i rocked the calipers forward a little. You can see in the pic how are are mounted so the bleeders are up, but there must be a little cavity that traps air at that angle. So just remove the 2 bolts and just rock them forward (or maybe back depending on how you have yours mounted) about 30 degrees. Make sure they are still on the disk and make sure you still make the bleeders point up, just in a different way. Then just bleed like normal. (I just did one side at a time and it worked just fine.). Report back and let us know.

 

2011-08-26_04-10-15_829.jpg

 

 

 

I actually swapped them side to side from this pic to better fit the e-brake cables. (but you can see the bleeder better.

 

P1120866.jpg

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haha I just saw that post. I tried the vacuum bleeder with no success so I'll be trying that probly later tonight around 7. I'll report back tonight.

 

wish me luck

 

thanks creepy

 

edit: although I do have 79-81 calipers I forgot to mention. I'm not sure if they're different internally.

 

also my stock 510 master should still be big enough right?

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Okay I got the air out of the lines (yes I had to tilt them forwards...seems odd but I'll go with it), my pedal is REALLY soft...I'm wondering if I should throw the 7/8 master from my z on or if I should order a 15/16 zx master...

 

(Edit) I have stock front brakes

 

also something's rubbing there's a clunking sound from the passenger side of you car. I have some 90 degree elbows that are pretty close to the spindle bolts that I'm gonna check for evidence of rubbing. but also I temporarily have a 13 inch stock 510 wheel on the back right...is it possible that the 280zx rear calipers don't clear the 13 inch wheel?

 

anyone with a zx and a 510 wheel care to find out? haha

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The reason that the rear calipers need tipped to get the air out is because they are mounted close to 90 degrees from how they were designed to be mounted.

 

Yes, the bleeder is pointing up, but the other end of the bleeder is close to the cernter of the piston. This causes the fluid to be below and air to be above the inlet to the bleeder.

 

However, when the caliper is mounted in the stock orientation, the inlet end of the bleeder is always at the top of the piston chamber, and the air escapes correctly when you bleed them.

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so 13 inch stock 510 wheels don't clear 79-81 zx rear calipers... but I switched the wheels around for now (until i get my tires remounted on my new wheels) and everything works.

 

the pedal is still really soft, for stock fronts and 280zx rear calipers what size master would work best for my setup? 7/8", 15/16"? bigger?

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