I had to replace all brakes because the bleeders were rusted in, wouldn't come out. So I bled and re-bled, but the brake pedal is still squashy and goes down too far if I have to stop from any speed. I even used my vacuum pump for evacuating air conditioning systems, pulled quarts of fluid through all the brakes-definitely no 2004 vintage fluid in there any more! Yes, I made sure to never pull the master cylinder reservoir empty, which would let in air. I always start from right aft and end up at left front, in order of bleed first. No leaks, the fluid level is always where I left it on previous session. I must be missing something...How can there still be air?

 

This may work, or not. Bleed the master cylinder. When you had all the calipers/wheel cylinders disconnected, fluid drained out. It may have emptied the volume behind the master cylinder piston, and allowed it to get at least some air in.
To bleed the MC, you need two hoses and fittings that will stuff into the outlet ports. Fill the MC, and point the hoses back to the reservoir. Pump the pedal until the fluid coming out has no bubbles. One at a time, pull the hose & fitting, and quickly stuff the metal tubing fitting into place and tighten it. Repeat for the other. There will likely be a small bubble of air, but you get what you can, and the pedal should be pretty good.
Bleeding the ABS is something I have not encountered, and I think there is a special hookup that will make the ABS pumps cycle to take in fluid and expel any trapped air.
tom

 

Did you replace the calipers?

If so, did you make certain that they're mounted on the the correct wheel with the bleeder at the top of each? It may be possible to mount them on the wrong side which leaves the bleeder down low and traps air in the caliper.

 

I did replace the calipers and they're oriented correctly. Thanks for taking the time to advise me and all the others you help out today!

 

Do you have drum brakes in the rear - if so then they need to be adjusted properly.

Does the ABS light come on?

 

I made sure the rear drum brakes were adjusted correctly. I don't get an ABS light. I even tried pressing fluid out of the right front brake, then securing the pedal to the floor while using the vacuum pump again at the corners, but the pedal still squeezes most of the way to the floor. I used to have a '92 F-250 which I had the same problem, but somebody told me to bleed at some unusual location and the problem was solved. Is there a component on this one that traps air?

 

My Haynes manual says you need an OBD tool in order to bleed the ABS system. I would search the net.

With the engine running, push the pedal slowly and hard. Does the hard pressure hold or does the pedal continue to sink? If it sinks then you have a fluid leak of a bad MC. Some say you can damage the master cylinder when pedal bleeding brakes - the piston seal travels farther than normal and can get damaged by gunk/corrosion.

With the engine running push the pedal quickly a few times and see if the pedal goes hard at a higher location - if so then there is air.

 

I replaced the calipers on a Ranger and bled the brakes multiple times. I would get no 'bubbles' from the bleeder, using a clear hose to a capped translucent container. I could see the fluid bubble-free after the first session bleeding. I still had to pump the brakes two or three times before I would have a 'reasonably high' pedal.
It took me a while to figure out that the master had air. The disk 'piston' pushes on the fluid, and the fluid presses on the 'drum' piston. From what I read, there is no mechanical pushing, maybe until the piston gets real fur down the bore.
Anyway, I had a couple connectors and two pieces of clear tubing, so I finally bled the master in about two seconds. Re-connected, and I finally had a PEDAL. Very little stroke before the pedal had resistance. Almost like magic. I was so impressed with what I had done, after close to a year of 'pumping the brakes' unconsciously after a while, that I even told my spouse. She was not impressed.
Long and short, bleeding the master is quick and simple and may avoid a lot of wasted time. I am a learner, apparently slow, as I bled the calipers multiple times, and only after replacing a leaky wheel cylinder did I think to bleed the master.
tom

 

Ok, it sounds like I should bleed the master cylinder, or even replace it, failing that. Is there a cheap bleeding kit for the MC available? Even if this doesn't fix it, thanks for your time!

 

A new MC will come with a bleeding kit. You just need to make sure the kit has your MC port thread size if you just get a kit. I don't know why but some kits come with black tubing, how can one see the air bubbles? Fine if you are bench bleeding though!

You can determine the port thread size by looking up your MC at a auto parts store, normally the description will include the thread size.

 

Being the hoarder I am, I kept the bleeding tube & fittings that came with a re-man master. There were multiple fittings, of different sizes, some which could be turned end-for-end and you could match your MC size. On re-imagining the fittings, there was no end-for-end swap, just a couple fittings with threads on one end, a 'flat/square' plastic in the middle, and a barbed fitting on the other end.
If you can get some barbed fittings, and some clear or translucent hose, you can do an effective bleed. The plastic fittings screwed into the MC ports, and did not drip. Brake fluid WILL destroy paint so be careful to place absorbent below, paper towels or rags, and wipe quickly if it gets on finish you care about.
You might find a bleeder kit in the Help section at your parts store.
I guess I should have bled the calipers again after bleeding the master to get that last little bubble of air out of the system, but I'm happy now with what I have. Soo tired of bleeding calipers... And I REALLY dislike the odor of brake fluid.
tom

 

BF also does a number on asphalt flooring! Try a four port MC it's more fun, four different threads and bleeding kits don't exist to cover all the flavors.

 

I went out and bought a new master cylinder, bench bled it and...the pedal still goes to the floor. Maybe there is air in the ABS manifold or lines. I'm wondering how hard can it be to bleed the air out of brakes! This is crazy- I should have been driving it for a long time by now.

 

That is too bad. I think you are down to air in the ABS. Search the web and maybe you can find out how to do it without the shop OBD equipment. Or just bring it to a pro.
Thanks for the update and let us know when you get it fixed.

 

I caused it to skid, which I can't do in the dry because the brakes are still too squashy and weak, but I thought I felt a little skid, plus got the ABS light to come on, so I'm hoping to have gotten the ABS pump to work, expelling air. I guess I need to do a four-corner brake bleed again after that.The pedal feels the same, but I figure that I only got the air out of the pump, now I need to get it the rest of the way out of the braking system. Am I right about this?