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Odd brake question

Hello. We have a 1994 Dodge Caravan. Long story short the passenger side calpiper froze up like 8 months ago and we just tied it up out of the way and drove it more carefully. Anyway, finally got a new caliper, rotor, pads but found the lower section of hose had gotten a kink in it from being bent out of the way. OK got a new hose but once it was hooked up neither side would work and the peddle went to the floor. Tried bleeding the system and there was very little fluid or air coming out of the passenger side but a lot on the drivers side. Only when we put the old kinked/blocked hose back on the passenger side would the drivers side brake work again. There`s no fluid leaking anywhere. Just from this does anyone have an idea what may have gone wrong? The passengers side lower hose being blocked or not affects how the drivers side works but nothing gets the passenger side working. Thanks for any quick input. :-)

Reply to
Sara Brown
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Really, And did the caliper stay froze or did it finally bust free? You must like living on the edge.

Did air come out when you bled the passenger side. What procedure are you using to bleed this?

-jim

Reply to
jim

Does it have ABS? There's a specific procedure for all ABS equipped vehicles, and even more so for the Caravan based series.

Reply to
Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B

yikes.

first of all, you probably already know, but driving on three brakes is a Bad Idea. As in Really Bad. As in if someone had got hurt, say good-bye to your house and savings and possibly your freedom.

Secondly, brake components should always be replaced in pairs, so you should have got two reman calipers and two hoses at a minimum. (this has nothing to do with your problem.)

Third, did you simply try blowing through the new hose? you might have got a bad one.

nate

Reply to
N8N

That doesn't really fit what the OP described. It sounds like the old hose is not letting any fluid through (which if you think about that may have been what failed from the beginning). So with the old hose in place there is some brake pedal. The new hose is not plugged so with that installed there is that whole volume of air in the hose and caliper that makes the brake pedal go to the floor.

My guess is that the OP is attempting to bleed that wheel by opening the bleeder and pumping the brakes. Doing that just moves the fluid in and out the master cylinder, but never gets the air out of the new hose and caliper.

-jim

Reply to
jim

Possible, but I was thinking more like there was air trapped in the line that couldn't work out because of lack of flow through the new hose, but the old, ugly hose still worked and allowed the system to be bled properly.

I guess we'll have to wait for the OP to read this and post back...

nate

Reply to
N8N

I gathered that for 8 mos. the brake caliper was just "tied up out of the way" in the fender well. If the hose was plugged that would allow pressure to continue to go to the other brake in that circuit and keep the piston from being pushed out of the caliper into the road. That description also makes it sound like "ugly" isn't playing a big role in the decision process.

-jim

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Reply to
jim

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