daniel

hey guys,
i am having problems bleeding the brakes on my car (92 civic hatch). to make a long story short i bled my brakes until the brake pedal was really firm but after im done and everything is tightened, i start my engine and my brake pedal turns really really squishy as if i have no fluid on the system.

I just replaced my master cylinder (brand new) and bled it separately and i am pretty sure i did that correct cuz no bubbles came out and the piston was really firm. I also checked for leaks and everything was good.

now, i am thinking i have to adjust the pushrod clearance of the brake booster and master cylinder cuz i have a feeling that when i was bleeding my brakes, that i was just pumping on the brake booster and not the master cylinder. OR the master cylinder i bought was faulty and i just wasted my money.

if anyone has any input, i would really appreciate it. thanks in advance

Mashimaro

perhaps your booster is toast too. if it's only a bit mushy, try it out for a day or 2 cuz it may come back up after...

daniel

yea i thought about that as well but if the booster was toast wouldnt it be harder to press the pedal since its there to assist the force right? or am i wrong? lol

and when i had the old master cylinder i followed what the service manual said about checking the brake booster where if the engine is off and i pump the brakes, it should firm up and the pedal height should rise with it...and it did. the only reason why i replaced the master cylinder is the pedal kept sinking whenever i hold my foot on it (for example on a downhill).

and no, its not a bit mushy - its ALOT mushy lol - cuz the pedal goes all the way to the floor lol. however, the reason why i think its the pushrod clearance is because there is about a 0.5-1 inch of play with the pedal until i get some resistance out of it.

chris_v2

great advice my friend. Telling someone to drive a car with possible air in the system for a few days. This problem will not go away.. the braking system is a very simple system, especially if you dont have abs.

Please explain to me how you BENCH BLED the master cylinder. How did you bleed the system afterwards? Did you bleed the master once it was on the car as well?

I bet there is still air in the system

daniel

^ when i bench bled it, i poured brake fluid on the resevoir, pumped it until the fliud came out of the two outlet valves and then i put the cover on them. i kept pumping the master cylinder until it was very firm and no bubbles came out.

but its ok now, i brought it to the mechanic and he bled it and apparantly there was alot of air in the system and its back to normal.

thanks for the help tho.

dirtywat

I don't think that's the proper way to bench bleed a brake master cylinder.

daniel

no?
i just followed what the instructions said. is there any other way of doing it?