Problem Bleeding brakes on my 2010

I replaced the pads and rotors yesterday and I made the mistake of compressing the caliper "on the side" when it was hanging on a bungee. when compressing one piston, one of the pistons popped out. about 1/2 to 1 cup of fluid came out. I was able to re-assemble it, including the fussy ring around the boot.

I put everything back together, and because the truck was half in & half out of the garage i had to put it back inside. there were NO brakes when i started it up. i was able to skillfully back it down the driveway and back into the garage using the parking brake.

today i went to bleed the brakes, and i figured i may as well flush the entire system.

i used the two person method. i filled the master cylinder a little past MAX and the level won't go down.

i can't get the caliper above to fill at all.

i started up the truck to see if the power brakes would somehow add some pressure, but no difference.

does this have anything to do with ABS? is there something that needs to be disconnected, such as a fuse?

i am at a loss as far as what to do next.

 

solved.

just writing this up for the record:

the bleeding has to be done with the key in the ON position.

it took me over an hour to find this suggestion online. the strange thing is, there are dozens of videos on how to bleed brakes on 2005-2015 tacomas, none of them mentioned this.

i know i am right because after turning the truck to the ON position at the FIRST pump a load of frothy stuff came out. my father then said the pedal was firmer on the very sequence, and he felt the pedal fade when i opened the valve. one minute later, the fluid was clear and the level in the master dropped.

another reason i know i am right is i tried a Phoenix Reverse bleeder. that didn't work, nor did it work in "power bleed" (suction) mode. not a drop in or out.

i went back and re-did all fours, took another five minutes.

done and done.

 

I've never heard of this thanks for the post

 

What's the difference on success, in having the key in the on position, or having the engine running?

 

Good info, but I hope your not looking for a tip, because I don't believe in it.

 

The key has to be in the ON position only with VSC. If you have a regular master with a vacuum booster without VSC then it doesn't matter.

 

BTW, reading the FSM procedure for VSC you turn to the ON position, wait for the pump to stop. Then for fronts you depress the pedal several times and hold while it drops with the bleed screw open. For the rear you depress and hold, doesn't say anything about depressing several times. Apparently the fluid is pumped out automatically. Not sure what that means, IOW if the pump will run.

 

5th Gen 4 Runners that bleed with the ignition on have an ABS/Master Cylinder setup like this. I suspect later Tacoma's do as well.

 

For comparison, this is what a non-VSC brake master will look like.

 

I have the longbed Sport. it has VSC and the master looks like the above except it has a wire harness into the side like in the photo above it.

one idea i had was to disconnect the harness from the master cylinder, but the key in the ON position worked first.