No brakes...

[agentofwrath]

So I can't seem to find anyone with the exact problem that I have.

I just got a 73 CJ5 with stock drum brakes. Had brakes but they had leak in bad pass-rear slave cylinder. I had brakes still, but now I noticed they were wearing fast and needed changed. I replaced the slave and then all 4 sets of pads. When I finished I no longer had brakes... I couldn't get them to bleed or build pressure. So I replaced master cylinder (quick fix, and the old one was a chunk of rust). Now I've tried to bleed and bleed and bleed. I can build up pressure by pumping, but if I let off for a minute, it goes back down to nothing. I've tried just about EVERY bleeding trick out there, with the exception of a power pressure bleeder. I've tried 2 bottles of fluid in gravity bleeding and 3 bottles (and 4 legs) through peddle pumping. I have no idea what went wrong or how to fix it. Any suggestions? Also I no NO LEAKS, I fully inspected the lines.


*Side note, the new brake shoes look different from the OLD ones that were on it, are new ones supposed to be very different?

Thanks for everything,

Sam

 

[CJ]

The new shoes should be the same as the old. The small shoe faces the front. 73 cj should have 11" drums front and rear (be sure they are 11" shoes.) You need to adjust the shoes so the drums just barely slide on before you bleed the system.

Then you bleed right rear, left rear, right front left front.

 

[mtnwhlr]

Did you bench bleed the master before you installed it?

 

[agentofwrath]

I'll measure the shoes tomorrow. Could too small of shoes cause a problem like this?


When we first installed the MC we didn't bench bleed it, so we took it off, bench bled it, and then started over bleeding the lines again.

 

[CJ]

Small shoes will not contact the drums and will not give pressure.

 

[agentofwrath]

Also, which part do I measure?

 

[CJ]

Your old pads (shoes) look fine, as long that you bleed everything correctly and since you replaced multiple items you may have a faulty MC. As long as you have no leaks it could be the MC.

As asked in another post, did you bench bleed the MC?

 

[agentofwrath]

The pads on one side literally fell off the shoe, so I had to replace them, and got both fronts so figured why not.

Originally we didn't bleed the MC, but then we took it off and bench bled it, it worked like it was supposed to, no leaks or anything, had pressure.

also in the pics the new shoes are on the brakes, the old one is in my hand.

 

[Torxhead]

Did you bench bleed the master before you installed it?

Well, did you?

 

[agentofwrath]

Originally we didn't bleed the MC, but then we took it off and bench bled it, it worked like it was supposed to, no leaks or anything, had pressure.

Yes.

 

[hole]

Try bleeding the fronts first, then the rears, then fronts again. I was having a similar problem after changing out brake hose's and that trick worked for me.

 

[NorthwestCJer]

Do you have help with the bleeding?
Is one person pushing the peddle down and the other one loosening and tightening the connection?
Or are you doing it by pumping the peddle with the line into a bottle of flued?

Any air at all will cause you problems. And now you are getting frustrated and probably not taking your time.
You need to take your time and take it one line at a time.

Get help, and make sure the person on the peddle is instructing the person at the connector when to tighten, so when the peddle is released you don't pull air back into the system.
Go to the "T" at the axles first, then move to your outer drums.
Make sure not to run the master cylinder out of fluid.