So this all started out with me helping out a friend...an old timer (friend's father) who called to say he accidently put transmission fluid in his master cylinder...so I told him to pick up a good amount of brake fluid and that I would come over and flush the whole system out...turns out I should have asked why he needed to be adding fluid in the first place, because one rear wheel cylinder was blown out totally and the other was seeping...so off to the parts shop for new shoes and wheel cylinders...got them in and started the bleeding process...spent all day pumping fluid through the system, but get next to nothing out of the backs. I've read through a bunch of the posts from other members and it seems like others have had this problem. Thing is I'm not sure if the master cylinder is shot from being pumped to the floor all day (I should have known better about this one since its happened to me before a long long time ago) or if its the ABS unit interfering with the bleeding process as some have said in other posts. Certainly alot of air has gotten into the system since who knows how long the one wheel cylinder was blown out and of course more air was introduced while changing both today. What should I try next...I don't want to just keep parts changing til I solve the problem and I feel that I'm at least still ahead of the game since what I've invested so far was definitely required. Like I said earlier, its an older gent with limited funds and this is his only vehicle so I'd really like to get it back together for him. Thanks in advance for your help !!! --J

 

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I used a vacum pump to bleed the brakeson my trucks, can do it alone and do not need to pump the brakes, saves on the MC.

 

Proportioning valve has shut off fluid to the rear brakes due to the massive leak when the rear cylinder failed. It's not your fault.

Go to this thread for a fix. The first half of the thread is irrelevant to your problem, but the second half should help.

Good luck.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=316319

 

Welcome!


Copper has it dead on.

Also I would agree with Bertha's suggestion. A lot of parts stores do rent them if cash is tight or you don't have room for new tools.

 

You'll find the proportioning valve instructions on page 2 of that thread by the way but I read the whole thing searching for that out of curiosity pretty interesting .

The only time I had to bleed brakes is when I replaced the struts on one of my Toyotas. No ABS thankfully so the old fashioned pumping of the brake and loosening of the screws worked fine.

As Copper said in the other thread there are two ways to get out of this have the system pressure bled and the valve will reset itself automatically or you will have to disassemble the valve and reset it. And when bleeding have an assistant depress the brake slowly or the valve with stop flow to the rears again.

 

My wife... The little darling...
Put power steering fluid in the master cylinder of my pickup...
She told me immediately that she thought something was funny because it was a different color.

I power bled/vacuum the system right away but within a month I was replacing the master cylinder and rebuilding the calipers and the rear wheel cylinders...

It seems once that trans/power steering fluid hits the seals they are doomed...

I would not pull what remains of that fluid down through the proportioning valves or ABS if equipped...

I would replace the master cylinder now, and try to blead out the fluid in the line between the master cylinder and the proportioning valve.

Good luck..

 

I wanted to thank everyone for their help so far...chances are the master cylinder is screwed...I'll take my chances on the caliper / wheel cyclinders being shot as well...to be honest I was told that tranny fluid was mistakenly put in the master cylinder but by the time I arrived on the scene it would have definitely been pumped all through the system anyways...the rear wheel cylinder was blown out and fluid had been escaping through that route for some time...probably why they were adding fluid in the first place. My next step is to deal with that valve and try to get the system bled. I read through that post and it pretty much outlined what I'm in for. Only problem is I'm not clear about where this valve / switch thingy is. There are two places everything stops off before it goes out to the remainder of the system...one is just a rectangular piece with a bunch of ins and outs the other is flat with some electronics attached...oh yeah I think there is one more...looks like it has some plungers / solenoids attached. Which is the valve / switch and whats the cleaning / reset procedure. Thanks in advance !! --J