HalfInchWrench

Replaced master cyl/ por. valve, some new lines for the back and proceeded to bleed the entire system. Every thing bleed fine except for the front right caliper. Only a trickle of fluid came out the bleeder screw and the pedal would not go to the floor like when bleeding the rears and driver side. Does this indicate a bad caliper? Lines are not pinched. This was on my 85 Z28.


Last year I replaced a caliper on the rear of my 87 GTA. The new caliper did the same thing. I returned it for another and that one was fine.

I've been messing with brakes for quite some time and never encountered this before. Now all of a sudden it's happened twice in one year. Is this common? Is is worth trying to fix/rebuild the front caliper or just replace it? Lines/hoses do not look bad anywhere in the circut.

Chickenman35

New Calipers or old?

1: Remove and inspect the bleeder screw very carefully. Corrosion can clog the tiny hole at the bottom of the bleeder screw. Even a new caliper can have problems. Sometimes a bleeder screw is manufactured wrong with an undersized or even missing inlet hole. ( Motormite made a bad batch some time ago....). Check to make sure that the bleeder passage in the caliper itself is not clogged or machined incorrectly.

2: Replace both front brake hoses. They can deteriorate and collapse on the inside while looking OK on the outside. Good insurance to replace all brake hoses BTW.

RB83L69

Especially if more than one caliper has done this, when fed by the same line

HalfInchWrench

Old on the 85 Z. Bleeders are new and clear. Tore up one fairly bad getting it out with a bolt extractor (I love those things) I was lucky to even get it out so I bought new bleeders.

I just mentioned the 87 GTA new caliper from last year cause the same thing happened. That bleeder was clear too. I could see light thru it. The 2nd new caliper worked fine. I'm not dealing with that right now at all. It's ok.

I pressed my luck so far getting brake lines apart. The hoses are origional so I suppose they should be replaced. I can put the torch on the brake line to brake hose fitting if it decides to give me a problem since I can't damage anything that won't be replaced. I just don't want to have to double flare anymore lines!

HalfInchWrench

2 seperate lines, dealing with the front. The rear brakes are fed by a single line. I have to go back and mess with that again too cause of a bent backing plate. The last time I had to deal with one of those was a nightmare. Not only do I have to get brake fluid all over me, but diff. fluid too and that stuff stinks.

RB83L69

Like, a new one and an old one

HalfInchWrench

Why should that matter? Fairly new ones fail all the time. Some old ones last forever. It's a roll of the dice. My 87 GTA has over 350K on it with origional front calipers. The 85 Z28 has less than 100K. That is quite a difference. Many fail long before that too.