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I realize there are lots of threads concerning this subject, but I thought my experience may be helpful to some.
The brake fluid in my recently acquired '81 Special looked like red mud. I drained it all out and blew air through the lines. I cleaned the "spooge" hole in the master cylinder, and then filled it with new fluid. I started out trying to bleed the front brakes the same way I had bled brakes on other vehicles - nothing. I took the lines off the calipers (one at a time) - no fluid was getting through. I then tried to suction the fluid through - still no luck.
I thought then I would try "from the bottom up" - using the suction tool in reverse. Still nothing. I came back to this site and realized that I had probably compressed the brake lever too far. I tok the master cylinder apart, and sure enough I had dislodged the seal on the piston. I put the seal back where it was supposed to be and assumed that all would go smoothly - not yet! I still wasn't able to get any fluid done to the calipers.
Running out of ideas, I emptied the resevoir again to check the spooge hole - and it was plugged again. I guess when I pumped air/fluid in reverse it dislodged some gunk and plugged it. I cleaned it for the second time, and had the brakes bled and functioning well in about 15 minutes.
I pumped quite a bit of fluid through to make sure I got most of the crap out - took it for a test drive & the brakes worked great.
The brake fluid in my recently acquired '81 Special looked like red mud. I drained it all out and blew air through the lines. I cleaned the "spooge" hole in the master cylinder, and then filled it with new fluid. I started out trying to bleed the front brakes the same way I had bled brakes on other vehicles - nothing. I took the lines off the calipers (one at a time) - no fluid was getting through. I then tried to suction the fluid through - still no luck.
I thought then I would try "from the bottom up" - using the suction tool in reverse. Still nothing. I came back to this site and realized that I had probably compressed the brake lever too far. I tok the master cylinder apart, and sure enough I had dislodged the seal on the piston. I put the seal back where it was supposed to be and assumed that all would go smoothly - not yet! I still wasn't able to get any fluid done to the calipers.
Running out of ideas, I emptied the resevoir again to check the spooge hole - and it was plugged again. I guess when I pumped air/fluid in reverse it dislodged some gunk and plugged it. I cleaned it for the second time, and had the brakes bled and functioning well in about 15 minutes.
I pumped quite a bit of fluid through to make sure I got most of the crap out - took it for a test drive & the brakes worked great.
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