Brakes won't bleed!!

[AFDanHef]

I fitted my new Porsche calipers yesterday and I was going to replace the brake fluid today. I sucked and pumped all the old brake fluid out. Then I put new fluid in and bled the brakes. I was using a vacuum bleeder and I started at the furthest point from the master cylinder (Rear Left) and worked my way around. I was getting fluid through the line and the level was dropping at the master cylinder but I never got a steady stream of fluid. I did every corner for almost five minutes and still there was just a little fluid coming out and some air. I put over a liter of fluid through.

I thought maybe the vacuum bleeder was sh*t so I did it the ole fashion way. When the pedal was held down and the bleeder was opened almost nothing came out. No air, just a little dribble of fluid. The pedal goes all the way to the floor and no matter how many times I bleed it there is no gain on the pedal. Finally, I got frustrated with it and the shop was closing so I put it all back together and drove it out using the hand brake. I noticed that the brakes do barely work right at the bottom of the pedal.

HELP!! I'm missing my trackday tomorrow because I can't get this fixed and I think I will have to rent a car on Monday.

 

[firestorm]

Assuming you didn't drain all the old fluid, before putting the new stuff in ... any how. If you did, you've made the job 100x more difficult, as you've introduced air into the system. You may have to cycle the ABS pump too if you have done that. I believe you'll need vagcom to do that. (VAG diagnostic tool)

You need to bleed the master cylinder as well as the calipers. Its not easy to see if you're not looking for it. Vacuum bleeders are one of the best methods. Some people have reported terminal problems with using the pump the brake pedal method, where the MC seals are damaged and a new MC is needed.

Good luck.

 

[AFDanHef]

ya I thought the only way to make sure that I got all the old fluid out is to drain the entire system. I pumped the pedal to make sure all the old fluid was out. I read that I may have jacked the seals in the mc by doing that but now that I have it all back together I get a little brake pressure at the bottom of the pedal so I didn't think the seals in the mc were screwed.

Where is the bleeder on the master cylinder?

 

[brasiliangringo]

Get one of these.. Work a treat..

Sealey Power Bleeder® Brake Bleeding System : Tooled-Up.com

 

[southylad]

I think your best to just bleed new fluid in as you draw old out mate not empty the system

 

[firestorm]

take a look at this thread
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-...problem-audi-dealer-cant-bleed-them-even.html

 

[Grale1]

The mc is in the top left hand corner of the engine bay, at the bottom to the right are to billed nipple, I think they are 13mm bleed those and it should restore your brakes.

this is what I do when I had this problem like your having. Hope this helps

 

[boostjunkie]

bleed the two nipples located on the master cylinder itself? i had a very similar issue an went round in circles for two hours messing around then a noticed two nipples on the master cylinder itself that i had been missing as there hard to see, as soon as i bled these i was away in minutes?

 

[jay1]

I fitted my new Porsche calipers yesterday and I was going to replace the brake fluid today. I sucked and pumped all the old brake fluid out. Then I put new fluid in and bled the brakes. I was using a vacuum bleeder and I started at the furthest point from the master cylinder (Rear Left) and worked my way around. I was getting fluid through the line and the level was dropping at the master cylinder but I never got a steady stream of fluid. I did every corner for almost five minutes and still there was just a little fluid coming out and some air. I put over a liter of fluid through.

I thought maybe the vacuum bleeder was sh*t so I did it the ole fashion way. When the pedal was held down and the bleeder was opened almost nothing came out. No air, just a little dribble of fluid. The pedal goes all the way to the floor and no matter how many times I bleed it there is no gain on the pedal. Finally, I got frustrated with it and the shop was closing so I put it all back together and drove it out using the hand brake. I noticed that the brakes do barely work right at the bottom of the pedal.

HELP!! I'm missing my trackday tomorrow because I can't get this fixed and I think I will have to rent a car on Monday.

Had same problem last weekend fitted 993 calipers and my problem was air the pressure bleeder fell over and pushed air in the mc I was told by another asn member to blead the calipers in the correct order and when you get to the Porsche calipers you need to bleed the inside of the caliper then the out side then last was the mc my brakes are much better now pedal still goes down a bit but I'm fitting new pads next week end so will re bleed them then hope this helps and you get it sorted

 

[AFDanHef]

Thanks for all the input!! I bled the mc today and there was an improvement but the pedal is still spongy. I think it's good enough to drive to a local Audi specialist so I'm goin to do that tomorrow and let them deal with it.

 

[AFDanHef]

Just to give a little follow up on this thread .... I'm a ****** :Flush: lol I took my car to the Audi specialist and they called me after one look at it and said I had put the calipers on upside down. lol aaaaa man I felt so stupid!! As soon as they said it, I instantly realized that when I was trying to bleed the calipers, the bleed nipples were facing down!! The place I bought them from said 996.352.425 was left and .426 was right. So that's how I put them on the car as the driver's left and right.

Regardless if they were left or right .... BLEED NIPPLES ALWAYS HAVE TO FACE UP!!! Embarrassing lesson learned. The shop swapped the calipers, bled the brakes and everything works great now!! I guess the up side is that I have a set of fully functioning, bad *** Porsche brakes now!!

 

[firestorm]

Good have them working - the reason they're swapped round is that the calipers were fitted left hand side of the hub originally and vice-versa. No one here thought of that here ...

 

[daz-20vt]

yeh the bleed nipes need to be pointing up but have you made sure the biggest piston is the lead piston. or you can get uneven pad wear and juddering. some porsce calipers need reversing. just fyi mate