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1970 Chevy El Camino Brakes

Hi All, I just swapped a 10 bolt for a 12 bolt rear end on my 70 Elky. Everything went pretty smooth except for the fact that the passenger rear wheel cylinder was leaking. No prob right? Went to parts store, picked up 2 new wheel cylinders, changed them, went to bleed the brakes. Now the problem: I got a ton of pedal but hardly any fluid coming from the bleeders. I had my dad pump the pedal and hold...the initial squirt is strong, air and fluid come out. Then he pumps and holds, then when I loosen the bleeder, brake fluid just trickles out. If we wait between pumps (30-60 seconds), I get the initial strong squirt, air and fluid come out. Then try it again right after and brake fluid trickles out once again. And whenever I loosen the bleeder the pedeal does NOT drop to the floor. I tried to gravity bleed it (fill reservoir, leave reservoir open and loosen both bleeders)but not sure how long I have to leave it dripping fluid out of the bleeders. I left it like that for 2 hours or so checking the fluid level every so often. Just one quick note...I did notice that before I went to bleed the brakes...the front half of the reservoir (that services the back brakes) was empty. I filled it then proceeded with bleeding the brakes. Is there so much air that I just have to bleed hours up on end? BTW...the braking system was working well before the swap.

Thanks in advance...

t
Reply to
tz_auto
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How old is the rear hose?

nate

Reply to
N8N

Three should be a brake combination valve that has a small pin in it to shut off the fluid to the rear brakes incase of a ruptured line. That valve is the one that has the brake warning switch screwed into it. It seems like it must be working properly. You need to manually hold the pin in order to bleed only the back brakes or you can alternate between a font brake and a rear brake to get the pin to shift over.

Kevin

Reply to
Kevin

maybe you should close the system, fill the front m c reservoir and with the key off

- pump the brake pedal - slowly - 20 times, then do your bleeding project in a slow

manner. don't let the m cyl run dry. might work.

mho v=83e

Reply to
fiveiron

If the Master was dry, then possible air trapped in the master. If that, then the master needs to be bled first,"bench bleed." Remove all air from the master, then proceed with the normal bleed procedure at the wheels.

Mike

Reply to
MCL

Reply to
Shep

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE POSTS! Got it bled this evening...dunno if one or all things that you all posted had worked...I tried them all. I couldn't loosen the fitting on the MC to bleed it, it was really tight. I did use a line wrench and it still started to go around the fitting. It was a Snap On wrench so I think its really seized on there. I used WD-40 on the fitting the night before and it still was impossible to loosen it. What I did do was open the rear bleeders, took off reservoir cover and had my dad slooooooowly pump the brakes and I did notice very small bubbles coming up from the front chamber of the reservoir that services the back brakes. Sounds like a bassackwards way to get air out of there, but at the time it kinda made sense to me, needless to say I was frustrated and was ready to try anything. Anyone used any other type of penetrating lube to get those fittings off? I know that my front bleeders are super tight and I'd like to flush the fronts. I had to vise grip the old fittings on the rears, then changed the lines.

Thanks again...Thomas

Reply to
tz_auto

best penetrating oil I've found is Kroil or Wuerth Rost Off... PB Blaster is the best you're likely to find in your FLAPS.

But wheel cylinders are cheap so if you break the rest of them it's not the end of the world...

good luck

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Reply to
tz_auto

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