HELP cant get my brakes back

whatty said:

Not to call you stupid but have you put the rear calipers on the right side and are the bleed nipples are on the top of the calliper. The reason I ask as my mate bought a disco and the brakes were displaying the same problems that you are having. Upon inspection I noticed the rear callipers were fitted on the wrong side and were also upside down so the bleed nipples was facing down. After refitting and bleeding the brakes were perfect.

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Seriously!😱

whatty said:

Not to call you stupid but have you put the rear calipers on the right side and are the bleed nipples are on the top of the calliper. The reason I ask as my mate bought a disco and the brakes were displaying the same problems that you are having. Upon inspection I noticed the rear callipers were fitted on the wrong side and were also upside down so the bleed nipples was facing down. After refitting and bleeding the brakes were perfect.

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Kin ell......

You may be right, I have put them on with the bloody nipples at the bottom, Dopey bastard, now I see that you are right and I never thought, just pulled one out the box and stuck it on and put the other one on the other side not thinking that they were handed.

I'll take em off on monday and see if I can solve the problem, new master cylinder on its way an all (£67) but wont hurt to put it on then all new so no problems in the future.
Thanks

My experience of industrial pipework (and even domestic plumbing) is to vent (bleed) the air from the highest points in the circuit. The problem being discussed sounds very much like trapped air, it can be a real bugger to get out. The Haynes manual just refers to bleeding from what must be the lowest points on the brake circuit - the calipers. I am just about to bleed my 1998 300 tdi after fitting new calipers and brake pipes, and was surprised to find no references to bleeding higher up the brake circuit. Possibly breaking a pipe connection on the ABS may dislodge a trapped air pocket. I am guessing bleeding from the lowest points on the circuit (calipers) works due to quite small diameter of pipe? Any thoughts?

landowner said:

Kin ell......

You may be right, I have put them on with the bloody nipples at the bottom, Dopey bastard, now I see that you are right and I never thought, just pulled one out the box and stuck it on and put the other one on the other side not thinking that they were handed.

I'll take em off on monday and see if I can solve the problem, new master cylinder on its way an all (£67) but wont hurt to put it on then all new so no problems in the future.
Thanks

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ya muppet
invest in a vac pump, not mad money and makes bleeding brakes a piece of ****.

It comes out easy (ish) if you ain't cocked it up

I have blead a few now and no probs with air providing they are fitted correctly. Hey we all can make mistakes in our eagerness to get the old truck back on the road. Or just a laps in concentration. Well I hope that sorts it for him.

TOP TIP FOR CHECKING YOUR MASTER AND SLAVE CYLINDERS

to check master cylinder pump the pedal until you feel resistance and hold if the pedal travels to the floor get out of your car and look for leaks. Should you find no leaks the master cylinder has gone kerput . Should you find a leak at one of the brakes at the wheel end the slave cylinder is caput. the same method can be used for testing the clutch.
Easy and I did not even get dirty and would save some people lots of money (lol)

can't believe there is someone else with the same problem lol. Mine was like it when i bought it tried everything, replaced the master, even the prv valve. Last case was to replace the rear calipers then it smacks you in the face, but with me and whatty thats wasn't until after wa had commented on how easy it is to bleed the rears up lmao

Feels like calipers are the problem because on first application of brakes when the pedal goes to the floor theDisco does stop but it feels like fronts only.

Couple of small pumps on the pedal and the brakes are as good as they were before.

Gonna have to re pad the fronts and new discs (got discs with the car) as they are knackerewd as well. prob need new calipers on front as they are only working properly one side of the disc, have to see how bad they are.

On the plus side I will have new brakes all round and I now know not to put the calipers on upside down

when brakes have been pressed and released are rear pads still loose or reasonably tight against disc ? have you tried clamping each flexi in turn to see if you can locate area with most effect

A trick I use, do the last cylinder, and close it down a little at a time until the pressure builds, just until it gets rock hard, use some one in the car to pump, the other thing I do is to close the nipple after the one pump when the pedal is at the bottom of the stroke, then let it up when shut, then open a little and one pump, and do the same again. If it does not work I would say the master is shot, it happen to me.

jamesmartin said:

when brakes have been pressed and released are rear pads still loose or reasonably tight against disc ? have you tried clamping each flexi in turn to see if you can locate area with most effect

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Bin a bit busy to even look at them since Friday James, been to a steam traction, tractor and transport rally at Kelsall (Cheshire).

Managed to have a laugh in the mud and rain and sell a few bits and bobs and get drunk etc.
Abandoned it today as it was to wet to even walk on the land this morning so we packed up and went home,
The Disco managed to pull the trailer off the field and then go back for the caravan even though we were advised not to, she kept going in diff lock on tickover and did us proud.

Going to swap the calipers over tomorrow so the bleed nipples are at the top and I'm sure that all will be well.

i knew id seen some on the wrong side on here somewhere recently ,may help

jamesmartin said:

i knew id seen some on the wrong side on here somewhere recently ,may help

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Wouldn't be these would it?

yea thats them

yep that was me with them on the wrong side, althou it wasn't me that fitted them lol

Well thanks to all on this thread it has saved me lots of wasted time. I read about having the rear calipers on the wrong way around last night, and low and behold when I checked I had done the same thing myself! Wont do it again though. Took about 20 minutes this morning to swap them over and have the brake pipes re-connected. Still air in the system somewhere, despite all four calipers bled until no more air bubbles. Might try one of those vac pumps mentioned earlier before looking at the MC. Thanks to all again.

Just thinking.... can you get air trapped in the ABS? and if so how to get it out?

David Preston said:

Just thinking.... can you get air trapped in the ABS? and if so how to get it out?

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Int there a special method of bleeding ABS?

Mine aint got it so I'm not sure. mine not even got dual line brakes

normally with engine running.