So my brakes went out today and i've spent the last 7 hours replacing the rear hardlines from the firewall back to the softlines at each rear wheel drum. In the process quite a massive amount of fluid was lost, as you might imagine. After installing the new lines i bled each of the 4 corners, with the engine off, until i didn't see any more air bubbles. After starting the car the peddle went right to the floor. i pumped it like 7-8 times and then checked the fluid reservoir. It was low so i filled it back to max again. I then pumped it 7-8 more times and again it was low, so i added fluid. I did this a total of about 5-6 times i think refilling fluid until i had emptied the 32oz bottle that i had started with. What i'm unsure of is if this is normal.. or if i'm still leaking from somewhere. I'm quite confident every fitting, union connection, and each bleeder valve was tight. it was now raining quite heavy at this point so checking for leaks was pretty much impossible. So what i'm trying to figure out is if all i need to do is keep adding fluid until the pedal stops going to the floor, is it a leak, or is there just something i'm missing? It's been a long *** day and i'm just burnt out at this point :<

 

Brake booster? I'm trying to imagine where all that fluid could be going to and you not seeing it hemorrhaging it. What exactly happened when the brakes went out?

 

the brakes just went to the floor and i had zero braking power. Limped it the rest of the way home with just the e-brake and found that the rear hardlines were severely rusted in about a 1.5ft long section and had sprung a massive leak. i believe only one broke but since both were in awful shape, i replaced both sides.

 

That sounds like what happened to me with an old 260Z I owned but replacing the lines fixed that. So you don't see anything leaking anywhere? Engine bay maybe? Brake booster is sticking in my head for some reason.

 

by the time i had got it back together and was bleeding the brakes it was quite dark and started raining quite heavily so any attempt at searching for a leak kind of went out the window. I will start searching for one the next time i have time and it's dry out.

 

keep filling it and pumping it until it stops taking fluid, then bleed it again.If its taking that much fluid still, then its still got air.The fluid you were bleeding was prolly the fluid still in the calipers and soft lines.

You can leave the bleeders open and keep an eye on the fluid, letting it drip out.This is a good way to flush the system too.Let it drip until your confident its new fluid, then bleed again conventionally.

Bleed the fronts too, as the brakes are tied together by Front left and rear right and vice versa for the other side, so they effect each other when ran that low on fluid.

 

put vacuum lines on the bleeders to divert the fluid. Crack all 4 bleeders, keep filling the resivor. When youve wasted alot of brake fluid, start bleeding.You are suppose to start in the rear right, then rear left, the front right, front left.

 

alright. well assuming i don't discover a leak i will keep adding fluid and then re-bleed.

i did bleed them as you desribed above, although i was reading that it should be rear right, front left, rear left, front right. thoughts?

 

yeah that sounds good, i was always told work from the furthest from the master and get closer, but doing it like you described always seemed more logical (being thats how the system is split)

I would let the drip bleed tho, because if your system consumed that much fluid with the bleeders shut, then theres a huge air pocket some where in the system

 

so just leave all the bleeders open and keep pouring in fluid? i've never heard of doing it like that before. first time for everything i suppose lol

 

open all valve, place a cup to catch the fluid, keep filling, and after 5-10 mins close all valve and bleed the system. To me I think you have a leak somewhere else, you angle the joint bolt, and it's leaks.

 

figured it out. the guy at autozone sold me the wrong type of union fittings to go with the line that i had, so it was leaking. i replaced them and it appears i'm now leak free. started raining and was getting late but i was able to bleed both back lines and the brakes feel 100% better already. now all i need to do is bleed the fronts and reinstall the gas tank plastic dust cover.