XJ Brakes

Have you checked the pads?

You could just be describing worn out brakes. A new set of pads and shoes might be all you need.

The black coming back fast after pumping isn't a good sign though. That can imply the seals inside the master are toast.

What happens if you just hold down on the pedal for a while? If it creeps down and the fluid doesn't go down, the master is dead.

Mike

Carl Saiyed wrote:

It sounds like you have induced mass quantities of air into a closed system. I suggest you visit a brake shop and have the system flushed properly. Please let us know when you leave the house so we can stay home.

lol how did he hook up the shop vac, thats what I wanna know. KH

I put the nozzle in the top of the master and just did the resevior..

Carl

I don't think you did a good thing there, Carl.

I can't imagine any brake work that would go smoothly if the brake fluid was sucked out instead of pushed through. I am not sure, but I suspect you have set up a faliure that would also result if you had replaced the master cylinder but failed to perform a procedure called Bench Bleeding. Failure to bench bleed will definitely result in having air in the system, and air will lead to a mushy brake pedal and weak brakes.

Just to be clear.. I wasnt trying to suck the fluid out of the lines with the vacuum, just out of the resevior. I cleaned out the rear brakes and drums with a hose and brake cleaner, it was pretty dirty in there. I noticed that my shoes are a little thin, despite being reasonably new. There is also a ridge formed in the passenger side front shoe. I'll be replacing the shoes soon. I bled and bled and bled the brakes untill the fluid came out clean, and stayed clean in the resevor.

I had a very hard time bleeding the passenger side, I think I need a new bleeder bolt. Common part?

Anyway, the brakes are MUCH better now, but I still need to replace those shoes soon to be safe. Tips for replacing shoes?

Carl

When you take the old ones off pay attention to which one goes where. I didn't ONE time and reversed the shoes. The "grabby" brakes that resulted were enough to remind me for ever after.

Experience is the name we give our mistakes .

Drifter "I've been here, I've been there..."

Just do one side at a time because there are right and left parts in there.

Mike

Carl Saiyed wrote:

I wasn't dreaming - nightmare really - that you were sucking the brake fluid out of the lines. I was worried that you sucked the fluid out of the reservior and got air in it, then trapped the air in the brake system by refilling the reservior.

I have never heard of anybody using a vac to empty the reservior.

How do you then clean the shop vac? Sounds messy. KH

Suck up some water when you are done ;-)

Carl

I just have to say it, please do not use your shop vac to clean out any thing that has to do with gas or any flammable material.

Yeah, me neither. Way too f'ing messy to clean up afterwards. Sure, it'd work but the brake fluid's not water soluable so clean up would be really bad. That and since it'd never get clean you'd have the fluid collecting all sorts of added gunk in the hose the next time you used it for anything dry.

A old turkey baster is usually a lot simpler. Safer too in that you've got a better chance to avoid contaminating the reservoir. That and it's a heckuva lot cheaper than the solvent to clean and the eventual replacement cost of the vac hose. But hey, to each his own.

Kitchen gadgets that make it to the garage are not allowed back in the kitchen, this keeps the turkey pure.