Well I'm assuming there is air in the lines somewhere. I bled them via the Harbor Freight hand vacuum pump and this went on forever and ever. 2 33oz bottles later there was still air being pulled from the vacuum in the rear passenger caliper. Brake fluid never got low in the master cylinder but I knew at this point I was fighting a losing battle. Wife got home later yesterday evening and brought me some more brake fluid and this time I did the method of filling up a bottle partially with brake fluid, hooking a hose to the caliper, and submerging the hose in the bottle. I pumped and pumped the brakes and the pedal got stiffer but never fully. Wife watched the bottle and barely any air bubbles came out. Very few would bubble randomly but for the most part nothing.

The car is drivable but the pedal is very mushy until close to the floor and then the brakes are normal. Should I keep doing the bottle with submerged hose method?

 

check the booster pushrod clearance.

and then keep pumping. if you have your wife available and you dont mind risking a divorce over communication issues i recommend the 2 person method, closing each valve before letting the pedal go, so youre not sucking air back in.

tap the brake hardlines to help get bubbles out.

order really doesnt matter when youre bleeding each corner as much as it sounds like you are.

 

How do I check the booster pushrod clearance? I don't even know what that is. The brakes were working fine right before I swapped everything so I have a feeling everything is fine, just air in the lines.

I was doing the have her push the pedal to the floor and hold it but I never did see any air bubbles.

When I was doing the method I used I could feel the pedal getting more firm and then at a point it just stopped getting better. Not sure which caliper might have air in it.

 

https://my.cardone.com/techdocs/PT%2053-0001.pdf

 

So I re-bled the brakes when I got home. Put it up in the air and redid the whole process. Finally the brakes got super firm like they should. I put on the wheels to drive it, put it on the ground, and back to the way it was and the brake pedal is mush and no brakes until the very end. What the hell?

 

Ok so I fixed it. Not sure what it was but it was 1 of 2 things...

1. I had the E brake on when I bled it and this time I made sure the E brake was off
2. Before I did the submerged hose and bled it myself. This time I submerged the hose in brake fluid but had the wife pump, hold, close, release.

Either way, bubbles came out of 3 calipers and now the car will try and send you through the windshield if you stand on them. Pedal feels normal now.

 

why did you have the e brake on? you thought it was a helpful trick or just absent minded mistake?

 

Just forgot and never noticed it when I was inside. Put the car down and went to go drive and said ****. Came to search if it was an issue. Everything I read said no but I don’t know. 🤷‍♂️

 

well glad youre happy and brakes are working.

enjoy.