Bleeding brakes

As yall may have seen before, I did a full rear brake job and had problems after I bled the brakes. The abs pump would kick on and the pedal was way to squishy. So I figured I'd wait and do my fronts then bleed the whole system. So I did my fronts and bled the whole thing. Twice. Pedal is still way too soft, and the abs pump kicks in for about 10 down to 2.5mph. And when I say soft I mean pedal down to 1/2 just to start braking, and almost fully down to actually stop. Then the abs thing happens. No abs or brake lights on the dash. Did I mess something up, or does the abs require a super secret bleeding method?

 

How did you bleed? 2 man method pumping the pedal, or vacuum bleeder? I've had good luck with both, but the vacuum bleeder worked really well, and was faster for me.

 

What calipers did you start with? Sounds like you have air bubbles in the line.


I just did mines.

2 oem bottles of brake fluid is all you need.

Start to finish in this order.

Passenger rear/ drivers rear/ passenger Front and finish with drivers caliper last.


Good luck

 

You forgot the LSPV.

 

I didn’t mess with the LSPV on my truck. 2nd gen here. I went straight to the calipers until each line was clear. Easy peezy on the 2nd gens.

Maybe help op with his concerns, I see you have a 1st gen.

 

The whole ordeal went like this:
Replaced rear brakes including wheel cylinders.
Bled rear brakes.
Pedal garbage, abs pump kicked in at almost stop.
Replaced front brakes including calipers.
Tried starting bleeding at rear. Very little fluid coming out.
Bled fronts.
Moved back to rears and did a full loop. Lots of air coming out.
Looped around again. No air in first 3, some in drivers frontline
That was about 56 fl oz of fluid through the lines.
Both times were 2 man method. Open, DOWN, close, UP, open, DOWN, close, UP.

 

Did you bleed with engine running?

 

It sounds like you allowed the reservoir fluid level to get too low allowing air into the top end of the system. Once that happens on a Gen 3, you have to use Techstream to activate the ABS pump while bleeding to clear air out of the ABS pump. I don't know if the Techstream procedure works on Gen 1 (???).

 

Try this, try doing a gravity bleed first, fill master cylinder to full mark then open all brake bleeders. Then wait till you have steady stream of fluid coming out of all cylinders. Close bleeders, then try normal bleeding method starting with the farthest cylinder from master . See if that works

 

When you bleed brakes, use glass jelly jar with about half full of brake fluid. Connect clear type hose to brake bleeder and the other end into the jar of fluid. When you pump the brakes you will see the air bubbles in the fluid. The whole idea behind this is to remove air bubbles without air getting back into the system. Also make sure the hose is fully submerged in the brake fluid.

 

I did the first time, when I did the rears. When I redid it i left it off.

I made sure it always full. Never dropped below the fill line.


I'm almost positive air got into the abs part. I just dont know how to get it out.

 

I had a squishy pedal on my 03 Sequoia. No amount of bleeding the brakes would help. But my ABS light was on after the first brake after start up. Narrowed it down to replacing the master cylinder. I had read that when you bleed your brakes, to only allow the pedal to travel as far as it would under normal brakeing. I stuck a 2 x 4 under the pedal to limit travel while bleeding. I wonder if jumping on the brake pedal (while driving) to actuate the ABS could help move any air through the system. Return home and bleed again.

 

This is going to sound stupid, but I replaced the front calipers on an old truck (F150 I think) and managed to install the calipers on the wrong sides. Therefore the bleed ports were on the bottom of the calipers which trapped air at the top. Tried forever to get a firm pedal and finally realized what I’d done. I don’t even know if you can install Tundra calipers on the wrong sides. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

 

If that's true, then that's the "good news".

Unfortunately, that may mean the "bad news" is a component on the top end (MC or ABS pump) is bypassing fluid and needs replacement. I would start by seeing if I could get a firm pedal after hydraulically isolating the MC. As 15whtrd mentioned above, excessive pedal travel during bleeding can cause exposure of MC seals to rust and crud not normally seen. If you can get a firm pedal on MC, then you need to consider the ABS pump is done.

I have also read that this would work on other forums.

 

I took it up to toyota. They rebled the lines and adjusted the rears. Pedal is back to normal and the abs hasn't went off yet. They said it's getting erratic readings on the left rear from when those jerk offs pressed my tone rings on too far. They want $550 to pull the axles and re press them. I said I'd pull em and bring the up there and they said it would be better to have them do it with the truck there as a reference. I told em I'd bring it back later. But since it's not doing it again I'll wait and see. If it does it again I may pull em and take em back to the dude that pressed em and have him fix em. Oh, and the abs pump didnt have any air in it.

 

sounds like the ABS is more trouble than it's worth. I have a leaking axle seal, maybe I should just delete it when I redo the rear axles.

 

It may be more trouble to delete it. I think my problem was actually the rear drums not catching well and freaking the abs system out. It hasn't done it since they adjusted the rears. Toyota just wanted more $$$. If you dont need new bearings on the rear then there's no need to mess with the tone rings. I thought the rears adjusted themselves out, so I turned them all the way in. IF I do have my tone rings unpressed, I'm gonna buy new adjusters for the rears, since that kit (DO NOT BUY THE CENTRIC KIT!) didnt come with them.

 

@bmf4069 how much did it cost you to get your brakes bled by Toyota? I think I got air in my ABS module when I blew a brake line a while back, and today was the first time my ABS has engaged since, and now I have no brakes, and no amount of bleeding will give me a hard pedal again.

 

I think it was about $150. But, I dont think they did the abs bleeding either. I think there's a way to activate your abd on dirt or gravel, then bleed. Activate, then bleed.

 

You can do that or find a safe area and stand on them a couple of times. Even just a bumpy road can get it to work.

 

Go to a dirt or gravel road, go about 25mph and stomp on the brakes and lock them up. Do it a couple times and you should be good to go.

 

^^ I may have to try this as it looks to be our only option. I took my truck to a independent toyota shop and had them plug up the techstream to perform the abs bleed procedure but there's no option for an ABS bleed.

bmf4069, did the dealership mention why they didnt do the abs bleed w/ techstream?

 

I'm not sure people are understanding how the ABS system works......

When not activated its OPEN that means normal bleeding works just fine. Its only when you lock up your brakes that the ABS system CLOSES and releases pressure on your brakes.

There is no mention of ABS bleeding anywhere in the factory service manual. Caliper bleeding, yes. Master cylinder bleeding, yes, LPV bleeding, yes......ABS bleeding....no.

 

I just replaced the master cylinder on my first gen and went through the bleeding procedure BP, BD, FP, FD. The pedal is even worse now and when attempting a gravity bleed, none of the brake fluid comes out on its own accord. It is even difficult to get fluid out by pressing down on the pedal. Is this due to an air pocket in the abs box and does that require an automated bleed by a scanner? I see that you can try to activate the abs by going on a gravel road but I can’t leave my house because their is no pressure at anytime when pushing down on the pedal.

 

Did you bench bleed the master cylinder before installing it?

 

Yes

 

Did you bleed the LSBP Valve (next to your spare tire)?

 

No, does it have a bleeder on it or just a line you have to disconnect?

 

It has a bleeder. Do your PR, LSBP, DR, PF, and DF in that order. You’ll need another 32 oz. of DOT3. Once you get it right and drive it a while, then bleed with the Bosch DOT5.1

I use the two person brake open bleeder and pump 5 times and close on the last pump method. Jam a small plastic water bottle with a hole cut into the side so you can watch the squirts. No hoses or goofy bleeder systems.

 

Whenever you replace drum brakes the last step is to turn the adjusters to crank the shoes out until they drag on the drums a bit. You want just a slight bit of drag/noise when you spin the hub...then bleed the lines, farthest to closest, all the way around. Then do whatever self-adjusting process/method is listed in your owners manual...if one is listed. Bottom line for me at least is to never trust drums, especially if it's wet. That's why disk brakes are heaven-sent IMO. Even so, never overdrive your brakes with the go-pedal...run-away ramps/lanes are not a universal road feature nationwide and sudden hard stops can be fatal.