Home › Forums › Stay Dirty Lounge › Service and Repair Questions Answered Here › spongy brakes
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February 7, 2012 at 11:00 am #454602
What would cause air to get into the master cylinder. I just bled the front but noticed that the rear brake side of the master cylinder has a bunch of real small bubbles in the brake fluid when you push on the brakes. Thanks again everyone
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February 7, 2012 at 11:00 am #454603
What vehicle are you working on and is it equipped with ABS?
Why did you need to bleed the hydraulic system?
If you do have ABS, you may need a scan tool to bleed the hydraulic system.
Most FWD vehicles that are diagonally split need to be bleed in this sequence –
RR, LF, LR and RF.
Systems that are split front to rear are bleed –
RR, LR,RF, LF.
February 7, 2012 at 11:00 am #454604Yes we will need that additional information so post that when you can as these days they don’t split the master into front and rear but rather LF/RR RF/LR, it’s called a ‘split diagonal’ system and it’s what most vehicles use these days. As for the spongy feel it could have nothing to do with air in the system it could be the pads themselves, the shims on the back of the pads, or rotors that were not machined. We’ll need to know what you’re working on to help you further however.
February 7, 2012 at 11:00 am #454605I’m sorry It’s the 1989 jeep Cherokee laredo and It’s the smaller of the 2 in the master cylinder and I just replaced the front pads and brake lines and the brake hoses on the front brakes and I don’t think it was bubbling before.
February 7, 2012 at 11:00 am #454606It sounds like you may have air still trapped in the system.
One of the best methods to bleed the brakes is to have a help. It makes it alot easier.
February 8, 2012 at 11:00 am #454607try to bleed all the brakes again. keep the master cylinder topped off while bleeding.
February 9, 2012 at 11:00 am #454608My update on this post. I re bled the front brakes and was moving back to the back brakes to bleed them and noticed that in the middle if the car on the drivers side there’s brake fluid leaking and its leaking around the brake lines that run thru there but all the brake lines are dry so I checked the lines from the front of the car as well as the back and for the life of me I do not see where its leaking from. I’m gonna double check in a little bit so I’ll keep you posted
February 9, 2012 at 11:00 am #454609Thanks for the update.
I would not recommend the use of compression fittings on brake lines either. You are best off replacing the whole line.
Each to there own though.
February 9, 2012 at 11:00 am #454610Yea for sure find the leak and repair it. After you know you have bled out all the air and you still feel your pedal is a little soft give this a try, believe it or not it does work.
February 9, 2012 at 11:00 am #454611I have another question about a spongy brake I noticed that there is a swishing sound coming from where the brake pedal is on the floor board going from the floor board going into the firewall I think where the push rod goes to the brake booster. What would cause this because I have brakes now the pedal doesn’t have much resistance
February 9, 2012 at 11:00 am #454612Does the brake pedal have more resistance when the engine is off?
And did you fix the leak you had found?
February 9, 2012 at 11:00 am #454613A swishing sound or mebbe a leaking air sound could be the brake booster diaghram leaking. It usually feels like a busted brake line when it fails. I’m not sure what you mean by this though.. “because I have brakes now the pedal doesn’t have much resistance”. The brake pedal is really easy to push now?
February 10, 2012 at 11:00 am #454619Get a friend to hop in the car and have them pump the brakes and look in the area where you notice fluid on the lines. From there if you still can’t find anything check all your other fluid levels and make 100% sure that this fluid is indeed brake fluid and not something like transmission fluid as I know that transmission lines, brake lines, and fuel lines can all be the same type of steel line and relatively the same thickness. From that point if you STILL can’t find what the cause is of the leaking fluid I’d take it to a mechanic. Also check your brake booster for any leaks or major signs of wear as it is possible it needs replacing. Keep us posted.
February 10, 2012 at 11:00 am #454620Did you have the issue before you serviced these brakes and did you service the front or rear or both?
February 10, 2012 at 11:00 am #454614The pedal does have a lot more resistance when the engines is off and I bled all 4 brakes and the back brakes had air in them and it does stop a lot better now before I changed them the pedal went almost all the way down to the floor board and wouldn’t stop that good now it goes down close to the floor board but stops descent. Any suggestions on what I should do next. Thanks so much everyone without you all I would have to take meds for anxiety 🙂
February 10, 2012 at 11:00 am #454615Quoted From guitarranger11:
My update on this post. I re bled the front brakes and was moving back to the back brakes to bleed them and noticed that in the middle if the car on the drivers side there’s brake fluid leaking and its leaking around the brake lines that run thru there but all the brake lines are dry so I checked the lines from the front of the car as well as the back and for the life of me I do not see where its leaking from. I’m gonna double check in a little bit so I’ll keep you posted
If that is the case, you need to find this leak (if indeed there is one). I would have someone pump the brake pedal and see if you can notice where the fluid is leaking from.
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