Bled brakes w/ hydro handbrake, now no brake power. Need help ASAP

[FourtyKid]

I got a friend to help bleed my brakes last night.

Z32 brakes
Sentra brake booster
PBM hydro w/ steel braided lines

This is the process we used:

I opened the bleed screw
He pushed the brake in, then pulled the hydro. Held them both in.
I closed the bleed screw.
He released the handbrake, then the brake.
Repeat until there was no more air in the system.

Well it feels like all of the air is out of the system, but the foot brake goes all the way to the floor and the hydro doesn't seem to lock the rears up at all. The car has been sitting in my shop for about a year at this point. Brakes worked fine last summer. Did we do something wrong or what?

[corby_baby]

Originally Posted by FourtyKid

I got a friend to help bleed my brakes last night.

Z32 brakes
Sentra brake booster
PBM hydro w/ steel braided lines

This is the process we used:

I opened the bleed screw
He pushed the brake in, then pulled the hydro. Held them both in.
I closed the bleed screw.
He released the handbrake, then the brake.
Repeat until there was no more air in the system.

Well it feels like all of the air is out of the system, but the foot brake goes all the way to the floor and the hydro doesn't seem to lock the rears up at all. The car has been sitting in my shop for about a year at this point. Brakes worked fine last summer. Did we do something wrong or what?

Process is incorrect, you were pulling air into the system.

1. push brake in, pull hydro (if you want...i didnt), hold both.
2. open bleed screw. Pedal will loose pressure.
3. close bleed screw when fluid starts slowing.
4. release brake/hydro.
5. repeat process.

[FourtyKid]

OK tried bleeding them today....Couldn't get them figured out using the above method, friend said to try holding the handbrake the whole time and bleeding the brakes normally so we tried that. Brakes feel good by the time we're done, but as soon as the handbrake is let up, the brakes feel squishy again. If you pump the pedal and handbrake together, they tighten up real well but if you pump either separately, the pedal goes all the way to the floor and the handbrake goes all the way down, over and over and over. Gone through about 4 quarts of brake fluid at this point....pulling my hair out over this. No leaks as far as I can tell in the hydro line setup. And the lines are setup correctly.

[G5SR20240]

Lines are backwards it would seem

[nissandrift!]

Triple check your lines and make sure they're hooked up correct.

[FourtyKid]

Checked the lines again, everything is correct, nothing is backwards. Still stumped.

[two40sxslyder]

sounds like you cant bleed brakes good. inline hydros suck balls anyways. took me a while to bleed mine good.
did you bench bleed the hydro?? I think pbm has instructions on the website

[FourtyKid]

Can I bench bleed the hydro if it's already hooked up in the car? The lines by the rail were incredibly difficult to get in and I really don't want to take them off again.

[Gold Zenki]

have the same problem!! my master is mounted upsidedown but i dont think thats the issue just needs to be bled i think just any better suggestions as of how to?

[FourtyKid]

OK update on this issue. I've adjusted the pushrod in the booster, that seemed to help. The brakes now build pressure if the pedal is pumped. When the brakes are pumped ~15-20 times, the hydro feels awesome and I had a friend confirm that the rear's were locked up when the hydro is pulled. The brakes do build pressure when pumped, but the brakes don't actually feel stiff/locked up 100% unless the hydro is pumped along with the pedal. Any input on this?

OK I just did some googling to find out that my Z32 calipers are on the wrong sides of the car, which means the bleed screw is at the bottom half of the caliper. Air gets trapped in the top of the caliper and they don't completely bleed right. So I've switched them. I'll update after they've been bleed with how it feels now.