2002 camry won't bleed after new master cylinder

[eljefino]

haaaaaaaaaaaalp!

2002 camry, no ABS, no stability, stick shift, 4 cyl, made in Japan, rear drum brakes, 201k miles.

Pedal felt squishy at a red light but firmed up. All four wheels dry, good hoses & lines, no fluid under car. Figured Master Cylinder had internal leak. Got an Advance Auto one, they say Cardone but box says carquest. Yeah, I know some people hate the brand.

Bench bled it, then installed. Bled passenger rear & front. Pedal felt rock hard (but maybe booster vacuum was used up.) Bled driver's side, barely any pedal. Re-bled passenger side, ditto.

So here I sit. Tried pedal stomping and vacuum bleeding. Oddly, with vacuum or gravity, fluid doesn't come out. Usually it does on other cars, and, in fact, I think this is the point of vacuum bleeding. Fluid is supposed to trickle from the reservoir into the "action center" of the m/c then on downward to the wheels.

Figured my pedal pushrod was too tight, checked it out, not adjustable (except for stoplight switch) and there seems to be enough slop.

Eh?

 

[dishdude]

Can you change the title to "Struggling with a 2002 Camry"?

Sorry couldn't resist

 

[901Memphis]

Bad reman MC?

 

[mehullica]

Did you adjust the pushrod before installing the reman unit?

 

[eljefino]

Could be bad, or could be install error unique to this car. Ive done other master cylinders in other cars with success...

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: mehullica
Did you adjust the pushrod before installing the reman unit?


Nope, wasn't in the instructions.

 

[Nick1994]

Probably a bad master cyclinder, take it off and see if it's stuck.

 

[mk378]

Unmount the MC from the booster so you can be sure the piston is all the way out. If that gets the fluid to flow, the stoplight switch may be the adjustment. Or a nut on the pedal side of the booster.

 

[Merkava_4]

Have the front brake hoses been disconnected from the front calipers for any reason ?

 

[Lubener]

Did you adjust the pushrod before installing the reman unit? [/quote

Only needed/confirm if the booster is replaced, not M/C. My bet is on the reman m/c.

 

[Traction]

I would disconnect the lines at the MC, and see what fluid comes out, or loop a line into the reservoir and pump it.

 

[Falken]

Eljefino, when I was at Auto Mech class, we had a tough bleed (I am about 95% sure it was on a Toyota) and the teacher saved it by bleeding it at the connections along the side of the MC.

He would crack them RIGHT AT THE MC AND BLEED FROM THERE.

Me and a bunch of guys were BAFFLED before he did this.

At the time it was me and 2 other guys that were the top of the class, and we just couldn't get it to bleed.

Anyway, this WORKED LIKE A CHARM!! Great school I went to, really glad I went. The teachers knew their stuff backwards, forwards, and in the rain.

Oh and don't forget to have a fresh can of brake cleaner, and a hose to rinse away any brake fluid you don't manage to catch in a margarine container so it doesn't eat any paint etc.

 

[eljefino]

Still at it. Taking a coffee break.

Loosened the firewall nuts, pulled MC out, recentered it, pulled it in. Now I can vacuum bleed from all four corners.

A problem (and possibly not the only problem) is that a bracket rides on the left (passenger) side stud, and so initially I used the right/ drivers stud to pull the new MC in to the firewall so I could thread the nut on the other side, which had less (no) thread showing b/c of the bracket. So I could have cocked it.

Yet, the pedal still feels mediocre. I'm going to have a helper pedal-pump in a bit.

 

[Falken]

If you bleed at the MC output lines at the base of the MC, you need an assistant.

Just gentle pumping, only to mid pedal depth, and VERY slow so it doesn't spray everywhere.

Anyway good luck!

 

[Doog]

Bleed MC first then RR, LR, RF, LF with the ignition key in the "on" position in case there is an electric accumulator pump in the braking system. Use a helper.

 

[andyd]

Please post follow up. My experiences with not being able to bleed brakes has always come down to a loose fitting sucking in air. Maybe I'm lucky, but I haven't had an MC failure in ages. Bug MCs would often fail in a cold snap. My other suggestion is to not turn the original for a core until you are sure the new one works.

 

[eljefino]

Well I got it fixed enough. "They" say this generation camry has mediocre feeling brakes. It takes the top inch of pedal to lock the tires up, and it's still rubbery. I had an assistant pump & hold while I bled into a rag, RR, LR, RF, LF order. The lines on this car have lots of "sheperd hooks" that can trap air.

Probably going to slap some new rubber hoses on the beast. Incidentally the pads, caliper slide pins, and rear shoes are all new, clean, and well adjusted.

It was still worthwhile to do the m/c, as they are a wear item IMO at 200k, and I had one stop that felt funkier than the rest... pumping the pedal firmed it up but this stuff has to be kept up on.

 

[supton]

Funky stop, and pedal now still not firm?

Yeah, does sound like time to do rubber lines. At the very least it'll give you another reason to bleed 'em.

 

[SatinSilver]

Is this a flip car? I thought all you drove were Saturns.

 

[eljefino]

Nah, this is "my car." Was my mom's-- she bought it new, and almost traded it in for a pittance. It holds the highway good.