Hey everyone! I have a 1982 ford f150that hasn't had rear brakes since the time I bought it (about 2 years ago). I added brake fluid to the resivoir and it has held fluid for a week or two now. Now I want to bleed the brakes. How do I do that? And how long do master cylinders last? My truck still has the stock one which probably has around 350,000 miles on it. Thanks!

 

If you added fluid then you probably have a leak somewhere. If you can't find any sign of leakage it might be your master leaking into the booster.

There are a slew of good posts on bleeding brakes. Karl will likely be along and post some of them for you. There's the manual 2 person bleed and then the power bleed systems. If you have a helper you can do the manual bleed. Have you done an inspection yet?

 

You'll want to make sure the bleeder screws will move first. Just try and break them lose, but don't open all the way yet. If they don't move, that's one more problem...

Have you driven the truck since you topped off the fluid ?

I think there's a How Too up top for bleeding the brakes.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-bleeding.html

While you are under there, maybe inspect the front rubber flex lines too, think about replacing any bad parts now.

As for the Booster and MC, it took me a while to find a pair that worked close to the OEM ones.

 

I am with BigBlue that the fluid had to go somewhere and if you dont see any leaks out side then I bet it is filling the booster.
If you have manual brakes look at the firewall on the inside then cab and under the rug or rubber mat if wet with brake fluid.

It was said by Max to check if the bleeder will come loose and I would do all 4 wheels.
I think if it was me I would go thru the brake system and replace all rubber hoses and rear wheel cylinders and install a new not rebuilt master.
Could also replace the calipers when you do the hoses but I have found they dont leak but do snap the bleeders so if 1 breaks replace both.
Bench bleed the new master before you install on the truck and by bleeding the rest of the system you will be flushing the old fluid out.

As for how long dose a master last? I had a rebuilt master that came with a rebuilt booster that went bad in about a year.
Thing was it never really felt right from the get-go and when I replaced the E-brake cables, never touching the fluid side, and when back together pedal went to the floor and nothing I did got it to pump back up so a new not rebuild, master went on.
Dave ----

 

When I'm just thinking about bleeding the brakes the first thing I do is spray penetrant on all the bleeder valves, multiple times...

 

OK if your loosing fluid, you are leaking somewhere. Being you dont have any brakes, and havent for years, I would dig right into the System. Pull the drums, and make sure the shoes, and springs are good. Check the wheel cyl to make sure they are not leaking, or the bleeded frozen. Replace the rubber lines. Inspect the seel lines for leaks. Now do the same with the front. Replace the rubber lines, and inspect the hardlines, and calipers. Then look for leaks at the master. Ive had them last 50 years, and have had them fail in hours. Once you have a solid system then bleed.

 

I put a drop or two on the bleeder, a short time later, put the 1/4" drive impact socket on the breaker bar, and put that on the bleeder. Take a small hammer, and tap the head of the breaker bar as I try and break the bleeder free, just get it to turn, so I know it's ok.

The thought of just a drop or two is, I don't want to risk fluid entering into the brake fluid system.

 

It's very simple if you have two people. Get one person inside to work the pedal. You get at the rear, whichever wheel you want to start at. The manual and different people say start at the furthest line back , which would be the pass side rear. But I really have never seen this make a difference.

Above where the line goes in there should be a fitting, looks almost like a grease fitting. See if you can turn it. This is the bleeder screw and like others have said this is usually stuck. If you break it off, I would tear the brakes down and put a new wheel cylinder in place. That was most likely your mysterious leak anyway. If you really don't want to replace the wheel cylinder, you will have to get a torch and heat the bleeder screw, try to get it red. Then let it cool a little bit and try it again. You may end up breaking it anyway.

If you happen to get the bleeder screw loose, tell your helper to press down on the brake pedal as far as they can and hold it. You then tighten the bleeder screw, then tell them to lift. Tell them to pump the pedal a couple of times and then hold the pedal to the floor again. Then you loosen the bleeder screw again. If you are getting fluid it will probably spit and sputter. That is the air coming out.

If you do the bleeding thing about 3 times, stop. get up and go up front, take the cover off the master cylinder and put some fluid in the smaller chamber. Don't let this run out as you are bleeding the system or you will have to start over. It's very easy for this to run out, it goes all the way to the rear and it doesn't hold much fluid.

Once it stops spitting air out and is a steady stream, you can lock that bleeder down and then do the same for the other side in the rear, same routine. Just make sure you do not run out of fluid up front. And always lock the bleeder down before telling your helper to lift the pedal. If they lift the pedal and the bleeder is open, it will suck air into the bleeder and in the system.

 

Just the thought of a 42 yr old bleeder screw gives me heartburn

 

If you put a small diameter clear plastic hose over the end of the bleeder valve and have enough to lead it down to a container to catch brake fluid, otherwise fluid can spray out the bleeder. You might want to wear eye protection too. I vote for starting at the passenger rear.

 

Here's a handy tool to bleed the brakes yourself.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wmr-w80625

You can even make one yourself with an empty water bottle and length of plastic hose.

 

Yep, I used an old mayonnaise jar, put a fitting in the top and a weight in the bottom. Notice there are two different size clear hoses, as some bleeders are smaller.