Brake Pedal Goes to Floor

[morbid81]

Hi all got a 98 X EB AWD 5.0. Put new front calipers, pads, rotors on it today, bled all four wheels numerous times and still the brake pedal goes to the floor up vehicle start up. But gradually gets stiff when the car is off. I read in haynes manual 96 and earlier had HCU which could only be bled professionally. Is this also the case with the 98 and I have air stuck in the anti-lock system? This is DD so any help would much appreciated.

 

[jremington59]

Are you sure there isn't a leak? Which order did you bleed them?

 

[morbid81]

Seeing as I only did front calipers I did just the front two starting on the passenger side, then I started right front, rear left, right rear, then right front when I did all four. I haven't seen any visible signs of a leak, there was pure fluid coming out the hose attached to the bleeder with no air bubbles

 

[1998Exp]

Did you let the master cylinder run dry at any stage of your work? If so, you are likely to have air in the ABS controller. Bleeding it requires a pro-level scanner equipped with the right software for your model year.

Hi all got a 98 X EB AWD 5.0. Put new front calipers, pads, rotors on it today, bled all four wheels numerous times and still the brake pedal goes to the floor up vehicle start up. But gradually gets stiff when the car is off. I read in haynes manual 96 and earlier had HCU which could only be bled professionally. Is this also the case with the 98 and I have air stuck in the anti-lock system? This is DD so any help would much appreciated.

 

[morbid81]

I believe I may have so and thought bleeding all four wheels would get it back to normal, I was reading about the abs having air in it and needed to be professionally done in my haynes manual. So im gonna have to bite the bullet and nurse it to a brake shop tomorrow

 

[koda2000]

the correct procedure for bleeding brakes is to start with the wheel furthest away from the master cylinder and work your way to the wheel closest to the mc. that's all well and good, but if you've gotten air in the ABS system you need the pro-level scanner to do the job. i've read of some people who managed to get the air out by reverse bleeding the system, but that requires a special fluid pump device. a trip to the brake shop may be your easiest bet (on a flatbed of course).

 

[jremington59]

If you let the cylinder go dry you could have air in the line somewhere. Like Koda said, back passenger, drivers rear, pass front and drivers front. If nothing else it flushes out the old fluid. Is your ABS light on or just the brake light?

 

[morbid81]

The pedal stiffens when the car is off and goes to floor soon as the engine is running, I am gonna go ahead and replace the master cylinder then re bleed all four, I think my helper messed something up and see if that cures it if not gonna take it in for professional bleeding. I forgot to add no lights on the dash are on, the first bleed was done with the engine running would this of thrown the ABS for a loop? All the rest were done with engine off.