Ok, my brakes were kind of mushy, so I decided to bleed my brakes. I went through the procedure outlined in the manual and bled each of the calipers. Got lots of old, dirty fluid out, but the brakes seem not that much different (maybe a little better).
So now I’m thinking about maybe the master cylinder in case there is some air stuck in there for some reason. Also, I wonder about the ABS system. The manual directions referenced a couple specialty tools and an electronic checker that you have to hook up to the car for bleeding the ABS. It doesn’t seem to have anything about bleeding the master cylinder.
So my questions are: 1) How do you bleed the master cylinder? 2) Do you really need all that stuff to bleed the ABS system? If anyone has done this stuff, your replies would be appreciated!
As far as Bleeding the Master cylinder, When you bled the brakes at all four calipers, You should have bled out any air that was in the system, so to my knowelege, there is no need to bleed the master cylinder seperately.
As for the ABS, You do need a special tool to open the bleed valve on the ABS Pump (under the Batery). It is a recessed Square Bolt.
The Pump Normally does not turn on unless the car is moving at least 5 MPH. The ALB checker that plugs into the ABS Test Connector. Forces the pump to turn on even though the car is stopped so it will build up pressure and can be bled. I bled mine by putting front of the car up on jackstands and letting it run in gear. But you can imagine how dangerous this is. This is NOT the reccommended way of doing it.
As far as your mushy pedal, Can you give me a little more detail. If you hold your foot on the pedal, does it stay at the same height, or does it slowly sink down until it touches the floorboard. If it slowly sinks down, then your master cylinder is probably leaking through the main seal into the brake booster. This is fairly common for our cars. I had to replace my master cylinder about 6 months ago for that same problem.
If the pedal holds in place, but just feels “mushy”, then your problem may be that your brake lines (the rubber ones that connect to each caliper) are getting soft with age and are “stretching or swelling” under pressure (when you push the pedal). Depending how bad it is, They may eventially pop (not good). Have it checked.
i replaced my master cylinder about 7 months ago because i opened it to add fluid to squishy pedal and there were chunks floating in it and it was leaking through a crack. its not difficult, i did it at 11pm under a street lamp with a keychain led flashlight. less than an hour. made a great difference. next on the brakes will be new calipers and bigger discs.
1ntegra - thanks for explaining what those tools are actually needed for. That makes sense.
My mushy pedal seemed like both of what you described. My pedal would go down to the floor eventually, after pushing on it for a minute. This seemed to clear up after I bled the brakes. But it still seems mushy (compared to a rental car for example). That probably is what you are talking about - the lines are becoming softer and swelling with pressure.
gotcha640 - Wow - impressive. I might look into that, as well as upgrading to steel-braided lines. How much did your master cylinder cost? And where did you get it?
it was $40 with a $50 core. got it at autozone becuase of the lifetime warranty. i dont know if there are aftermarket m.c.'s but i wouldnt buy anything i didnt have a warranty on. from what i’ve heard and read, most brakeline upgrades are very worthwhile as long as you do the whole system. calipers for our cars are 70 each, brake line kits are about 130, mc 40, oem rotors and organic no squeal no fade no dust pads 130 for the rear, probly same for front, so i guess thats a total of almost 600 for a decent system. slotted drilled vented discs probably double that.