Hey,

Tomorrow morning I have to finish the rear brakes on my buddies used to be mine 90 Civic DX Sedan. I spent the last 2-3 hrs of light of the last couple days doing the brakes for him (for $20 + Expenses) Tried it out and the first stop the brakes crash almost to the floor. Pump them up quick and they work fine for a minute. I didn't bleed them. I have never bled after doing rear drums. The seal popped ot of place a few times on the caliper. Fluid seeped out too. Will a bleed fix it and do I have to bleed the fronts?

 

Any time the system has been open you usually need to bleed all 4 wheels. Also when the piston pops out of the cylinder, that's likely to have damaged the seal and cause a leak.

Pre-set the self-adjusters so the drum just touches the shoes as you put it on. If the adjustment is real loose there will be excessive pedal travel. You can also check adjustment by pulling the hand brake and make sure it will engage. Do not adjust the hand brake cable until after you're sure the shoes are properly adjusted. Really the hand brake cable should never need adjusting, at least not because of brake shoe replacement.

 

The same exact thing happen to me a few months ago. I wanted to change the springs on my rear brake drums & made the mistake of testing the brakes(in my driveway) with the drums off the wheel & the rubber seals on the cylinders popped off spraying brake fluid everywhere.
but I replaced the wheel cylinders...and I just bleeded the rear brakes afterward. But that's just from my experience. If you wanna bleed all 4 wheels then do it, that car might just need it if your friend don't know the last time he changed the brake fluid.

Brownish-red Brake fluid in lines = Bad
Clear Lightly yellow colored brake fluid in lines = Good

 

The brake fluid was clear all the way through. I actuated the e brake lever about 5o times and it snugged up a bit but no change at the pedal. Bled both rear brakes and presto-chango solid as a rock brake pedal. Er thanks again :-}