I just finished replacing the front brakes on my '91 hatchback std. I used a c-clamp to push the piston back ino the caliper so I didn't have to bleed the brakes. When I was done the pedal went all the way to the floor and I couldn't build up any pressure when the car was running, even by pumping the pedal many times. ThinkingI had somehow introduced air into the system, I bled both front brakes. Didn'tget any bubbles, everything seemed fine.

Is there a chance I have a bad seal in the master cylinder or something of that nature? Would it suddenly go bad bypushing the piston back with a clamp? I didn't try to bleed the rear brakes because the bleeder screws are rusted away and I thought if I could get away with it I would skip it.I also didn't think that would do any good since I was working on the front brakes and didn't get any bubbles there. Should Ibleed the entire system? I've done this before with no problems, but did all the brakes and bled the entire system with no problems.

Thanks for any help guys

 

did you check for leaks? you might have messed up your caliper seal or somthing. Also did you make sure that the bleed screws were shut tight?


You could try flushing the system all togeather. open all the bleed valves and just pump and constantly add brake fluid untill its all clean.

 

there aren't any leaks and the level in the reservoir never goes down when I'm pumping the pedal. All the bleed screws are tight. Any thoughts on the master cylinder being the problem?

 

Could be the problem.


I had a bunch of crazy brake problems on my ef and ended up replacing every component of the brakes except for the brake lines them selves. The master cylindar was the first thing I replaced when i got my car, so i dont really have any experience with master cylindar problems.

 

thanks, i think that's the way I'm gonna have to go

 

After about ten days of wracking my brain and bringing the car to Car-X(where they told me I needed new calipers), I took it to a friend. He discovered that one of my pads was bent slightly and this caused it to act like a spring. My pedal height and stopping power were all affected by this little space of about 1/8" between the pad and rotor. Never found anything on the web about that. Oh well, I now have a brand new brake system that should last the life of the car.

 

wow....glad its fixed!

 

me too! Thanks for your help!