1986 Toyota 4x4

I made the mistake of flushing out all of my brake fluid since it was 30 years old and I opened up all 4 lines to drain it. Put new disc calibers on the front and when I went to bleed the lines I could not get any brake pressure at all. I decided to put on a new master cylinder and have bled it. At this point I have tried everything to bleed the lines and cannot get brake pressure. I have bled brake lines all my life and have had no issues until now. The way I have always done it is I take a 15' clear tube and run it from the bleeder screw all the way back into the master cylinder so it simply recycles the fluid and at the same time gets the air out. However, the trapped air in the line simply rocks back and forth because I can see the 5" air bubble that runs across my front window when I pump the brakes. The rear wheel cylinder seals are good so not leaking. I am now driving on expired plates because I have been working on the brakes for over a week now with no luck. Just trying to figure out if anyone has had this problem.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW Greg

 

Welcome to TW!

 

On my 88 4Runner that blew out a rusty rear line, I replaced most of the hard lines and the master cylinder. I put speed bleeders on since that will allow you to push the air/fluid out of the caliper/cylinder to the reservoir (from a Mityvac bleeder setup) and not pull the air back in. It takes time since you want to push out the fluid/air and then slowly let up the pedal to allow only the fluid to get pulled back in. When I was done, it had the firmest brakes I've ever had in a vehicle. The easiest way is to have a friend pump the brakes while you crack open each corner to let the air/fluid out and retighten before he/she lets up the brake pedal. It's still good to have a reservoir to hook up to the bleeder to catch the fluid/air and not make a mess. It sounds like your big air bubble is stuck going back and forth so you need a shorter line to let the air escape.