Bleeding Brakes Question

[jlyalls]

Hey guys, I am new to the forum and I apologize if I have posted in the wrong place. This past weekend I decided to take a look at my brakes since they were squeaking pretty bad in the front after only being replaced a year ago. I discovered the rotors needed replacing as well as one of the calipers needed replacing. I went ahead and got 2 new front rotors, 2 new calipers, and front brakes.

My truck is a 2012 Ram 1500 Outdoorsman.

My issues is me and my father bled the brakes over and over in the front and cannot get the pressure to stay. I hooked a tube up to see if I get any bubbles and we do not see any coming out.

I talked to one mechanic and he said we may need to bleed them with the engine running. Have you guys ever ran into this issue?

When the engine is off I can build up the pressure to bleed the brakes but when the engine starts it all goes away and if you pump then it gets slightly spongey but once you let off again for a few seconds it goes all the way to the floor. So it can kind of stop but you have to pump the brakes.

Thanks ahead of time for responses.

 

[BlownGP]

You sure you have the calipers on the right side with the bleeder valves pointed up not in the down position?

You will never be able to bleed if the bleeders pointing down.

 

[sbarron]

I would guess you still have air somewhere, (if you're not leaking), and chasing it back and forth. Best advice I ever received and can pass on for bleeding brakes is to not do it the old fashioned way. Get a pump and bleed then from the caliper back to the reservoir. It really does help.

 

[DavidN]

You may want to jack up the side you are bleeding.
That might help - assuming you do it the old fashioned way of course.

 

[R/T_Fire]

You sure you have the calipers on the right side with the bleeder valves pointed up not in the down position?

You will never be able to bleed if the bleeders pointing down.

This right here...
If the bleeder is on the bottom you will never get the air out of the caliper... Simple mistake.... I've done it

 

[nickpohlaandp]

You sure you have the calipers on the right side with the bleeder valves pointed up not in the down position?

You will never be able to bleed if the bleeders pointing down.

When I first saw this I thought "Is that possible to do?"

This right here...
If the bleeder is on the bottom you will never get the air out of the caliper... Simple mistake.... I've done it

This answered my question. That's a "DOH!" moment for anyone who pulls this off. Dang.

 

[R/T_Fire]

When I first saw this I thought "Is that possible to do?"



This answered my question. That's a "DOH!" moment for anyone who pulls this off. Dang.

Yeah, I had it all laid out right, moved things around in the shop and ended up reversing the sides... put it together and had a wtf moment, went back and looked at the caliper and was... ooops there is the problem... definitely one of those dumb moments you catch yourself in wondering how did I not notice this when I laid them out.... even when you paid attention to laying them out to install and make sure you have the one on the right side.

 

[jlyalls]

I do have the calipers on in the correct position. Is it pretty simple to use the pump method back to the reservoir? Where is the best place to get a pump?

 

[nickpohlaandp]

I do have the calipers on in the correct position. Is it pretty simple to use the pump method back to the reservoir? Where is the best place to get a pump?

I've seen them at pretty much every auto parts store I've ever been to. I've never used one though. I almost bought one not too long ago to do my sons Toyota brakes, but I ended up using the old style method with my 10 year old pumping the pedal. I'd like to learn how to use the pump though, because it just seems like a better method to me. Maybe that's something you can youtube.

 

[nickpohlaandp]

Ok, so I just watched a Youtube video of a dude bleeding the brakes with a vacuum pump and he was still pulling fluid from the master cylinder through the caliper, only he didn't need someone pumping the brakes because he had the vacuum pump. Is this the way it's done? For some reason I had it in my head that there was a method that forced fluid through the caliper up into the master cylinder.

 

[Riccochet]

Did you bleed the rears as well? If you pulled the front calipers I'm betting the reservoir went dry and may have introduced air in to the rear lines.

Passenger side rear, driver side rear, passenger side front, driver side front. That's the bleed order.

 

[Rustycowl69]

I read once, that certain bleeding methods where the brake pedal goes full stroke can damage the master cylinder seals. The article suggested putting a 2x4 wood block beneath the pedal to prevent an overstroke condition from occurring. Don't know if it's true or not, but if it keeps from replacing the mc unnecessarily, then I'll do it.

 

[jlyalls]

So I am an idiot. The first reply was correct. I had the calipers on the wrong sides...talk about a Homer Simpson DOUGH!!! I worked on this for 3 days! Geez sometimes the obvious stares you down. I can guarantee I will not do that again. Thank you all for your help and lesson learned!!!!!

For any future newbs reading this...MAKE SURE THE BLEEDERS ARE POINTING UP and YOUR CALIPERS ARE ON THE CORRECT WHEEL!!!