Brake calipers won’t bleed

Hey y’all I recently got some S13WE calipers from a first generation tundra for my 2000 Tacoma. My truck previously had these same calipers previously and I never had any issues until one started sticking. When I ordered my new calipers, I was sent one faulty caliper that had bad threads on it and I sent it back and got a replacement. I now have the two calipers on the truck, but I’m having issues bleeding them out. I wasn’t able to bleed them or the master cylinder thoroughly so I took it to Les Schwab tires and had their brake department look it over. Their break department said that they weren’t able to get the pedal to feel any better and it kept going to the floor. They think that I have faulty calipers. Is it really realistic that these would be faulty or do you think there’s an issue with the bleeding? I have another set of calipers from O’Reilly‘s that I’m gonna throw on just a check if it is the calipers that are currently on the truck. However if it’s just something with bleeding, that I wasn’t able to do and Les Schwab wasn’t able to do correctly, I would love to try to figure that out before changing calipers again. Thanks in advance!

 

Hook your peepers on the banjo bolts. Are you using the Taco banjo's with the Tundra brakes? Not sure if they mesh well. Just my 2 cents.

 

Get yourself a motiv power bleeder (if you don't already). They are worth every penny. I trust you are bleeding the entire system (starting at the back)? It would seem unlikely that the calipers would be bad. Did the master cylinder ever empty while you were replacing them?

 

Not a banjo bolt style, using the tundra brake lines with flare nut.

 

Master cylinder did empty. Les shwab bled back to front and the master twice.

 

My money would be on a damaged master cylinder before the calipers. But I'd still get the motiv power bleeder and a gallon of brake fluid and have a go with that before you write it off.

And I think you can get master cylinder rebuild kits, which would be better if you still have the OEM cylinder.

 

If you have ABS, that's the place keeping air.

You either need Techstream software to safely bleed (to activate the ABS) or someone who is willing to do some hoonagin bleeding.

 

Interesting, I didn't think about the ABS I'll look into that.

 

THIS^^^

I had the exact same issue when I installed the Tundra brake upgrade on my '98 with ABS. Had to take it to the Toyota shop to get it right. Best.

 

Thank you all, I've been chasing this for weeks and need my truck back. I appreciate the help.

 

IF I'm right, that's an indicator that Less Slob may not be the hot ticket for brake work.

If I'm not right, at least I didn't charge anything.

 

Seems there is a procedure floating around somewhere for bleeding with ABS brakes, so it might help if you find it and have the right tools. For me, it was just easier to drop it off and let the Toyota shop do it.

 

Yes, I've always been wary of Les Schwab. I'll see what I can do otherwise it will need to be towed to Toyota.

 

Think I found it...

EDIT: I'm too old and forgot I had the same problem on my '02 4Runner, which this procedure was written for. I think similar principles apply though to the 1st Gen. Tacomas with ABS brakes.

 

Perfect thank you, probably going to need Toyota to do it.

 

I'm sure you've checked this already, but make sure your calipers aren't mounted on the wrong side. Bleeder screws need to face up! Sometimes simple stuff like this gets overlooked.

 

Thanks, man. Yes, they are facing up and on the correct side. Always good to check though, definitely made dumb mistakes like that before.

 

Are you saying the air is trapped in the ABS system because the MC went dry? Reason I’m asking is that I just replaced my front and rear brake hoses and made sure the MC never got close to MIN when I bled RR, LR, RF, LF and LSPV in that order. You have me wondering if I jacked up my ABS.

 

Yes. It's a common problem when the MC has to be replaced, which is about the same as going dry when bleeding.

If ABS is a problem fluid wise you'll know right away, because the pedal will feel soft like you need to bleed the system.

 

Pedal feels the same as it did before I did the hoses and it doesn’t pump up like it still has air in the system but I always thought the pedal felt soft. I’ll ask my neighbor if I can drive her ‘98 around the block for comparison.