How to Bleed Brakes - Ford Forum

MercuryMountaineer02 · #1 03-10-2007, 10:09 PM

now I'm getting conflicting instructions to bleed my brakes
before I was told to leave the vehical off and pump the brakes till theres no more vaccume in the booster and then to pump them up and hold them while someone opens the valve, then push the pedal to the floor and hold it until the other person closes the valve. then repeat as many times as nessecary to remove all the air from the furthest corner of the vehical first working my way closer to the master cylinder.

now I have someone telling me to let the vehical run to allow the booster to operate while I do the above procedure.

do I let it run or not?
I know on a 2002 dodge caravan you have to hook a computer up to it and use it to open a valve on the ABS unit to properly bleed the brakes, is there something similar on my 2002 mercury.
someone do me a favor and just pull all my hair out for me.

goinstrong · #2 03-11-2007, 05:41 AM

Personally I'd try one way and the other. If that don't work I'd get a garage to do it. ABS is a pain in the neck. Having another person to pump the pedal proper and hold it might help. Don't forget to give it a second or two after they start holding to bleed it. (ABS is a slow brake and doesn't hit full pressure as fast). The one-man brake bleeder systems seem to help sometimes, although I'm not so sure with ABS.

MercuryMountaineer02 · #3 03-11-2007, 05:45 PM

Well I replaced the master cylinder and i've used a total of 2 quarts of brake fluid bleeding the brakes. nothing seems to be helping it. the chilton manual says nothing special about bleeding. just the usual start at the furthest corner and work your way close to the master.
as far as i know the booster is a direct mechanical connection to the master.
unless it has a spring i'm compressing or something cause when the vehical is off the pedal is right on top and you can't push it down much at all. till you start it then you can push it right almost to the floor. doesn't make me feel to safe with the pedal travel that far down. sure it stops fine and would probaly engage the ABS if I pressed hard enough. just still doesn't seem right.
I'm goin to look into it even more I guess
thanks for the reply

goinstrong · #4 03-12-2007, 09:06 PM

Power brake boosters and ABS valves have been known to fail. Damaged brake boosters can even lead to a damaged master cylinder (even if the master's new).Nothing lasts forever. Especially when you have contamination (dirty "brown" fluid) in the brake lines. Before you go too far you should have a look at the brake lines to be sure they have no obviously damp or wet spots on the outside of the lines where they could be leaking slowly. Pay special attention to hoses. If you take a hose and push it lightly one way and the other and see super-small fractures in the rubber (dry rot) you should replace them - they can also cause trouble. If you had brown or black fluid it would have been a good idea to replace everything because the debris can be nearly unable to be removed with all the extra valves - ABS, brake proportioning, etc (it just jams them up). I'm in the process of doinga full brake job on my car 'cause of bad fluid. I'm happy I don't have ABS though. I complain but I really only paid like $450 for the whole deal (power booster to the calipers and everything in between). The most expensive part was the proportioning valve at $190.

5094926894 · #5 07-07-2011, 08:45 PM

what is the sequence to bleed brakes on an 84 tempo?