After changing the clutch master cylinder I decided it'd be a good idea to replenish all the brake fluid as well, so I bled the system in the order of... pass/side back, Dr/side back, pass/side Front, Dr/Side front. I now have practically no braking at all, pretty sure I bled the system properly, and also pretty sure there's no leaks in the system at all, what I noticed when I was bleeding is that on the rear brakes when pressing the pedal to bleed the pedal only seemed to go half way down and stop, on the front brakes when bleeding, the pedal went all the way down with more resistance after half way, when I drive the car now, my pedal will only go half way down and no further, I'm guessing that my master cylinder is foobard or is there a more likely explanation like the self adjusting mechanism that I can't find anything about in the heynes apart from a mention that its there and can't find on the car at all, or anything else anyone can think of...

OK.... just found out there's supposed to be 3 bleed nipples on the front calipers... I only bled from the top one, I've found another half way down, anyone know the correct order these are supposed to bled from or possibly have a diagram?

First of all bleed the back brakes.

Then, starting with the left side bleed the fronts. Bleed the bottom 2 nipples, doesn't matter which one is first, followed by the top. Definately do the top last. Repeat on the drivers side.

The fact that the pedal won't go more than half way down after you've bled the brakes is actually a good sign!

Rapid brakes with their 4 pot calipers and large rear drums should feel really responsive....do yours?

nope, they never did, I suspect there's been air in the system since I bought it, hence why when I did the clutch master cyl I decided to bleed the brakes while I was at it...

quicky, I bled the back brakes propery, looks like I just made a mess of bleeding the front ones, can I get away with not bleeding the back one's again they take bleeding ages, I got a cheap one way valve type thing from halfrauds to do it, but it doesn't work very well, way I work it is get the missus to sit in the car pumping them while I move the valve open and closed manually... tis a real pain...

I feel your pain. One air bubble will make for a mushy middle peddle. Concerning that valve you are using, despite the fact that they have a 'one way valve', I have found that air can still be drawn in via the threads on the nipple whilst lifting the brake peddle. Use the Gunsons Easibleed, with 8-10 PSI (not 20) and you can do the whole bleeding procedure (pun intended) yourself and with no air introduced.

I discovered that the hard way too... remove nipple, apply thread lock cured it...

I discovered that the hard way too... remove nipple, apply thread lock cured it...

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, dont put thread lock on or you will never get the nipple out when you want to bleed the brakes next time

PMSL... the amount I'm faffing about with these things it'll all be K next time...

urgh.... the Saga continues... bleed the whole lot again, still no joy, I think its gotta be because my one man brake bleeding thing is crap and lets air back in, or air through the threads... and to top it all I snapped a bleed nipple when I was tightening it up, so before I can do the lot again I have to fix that... anyone know if these things are pretty generic and I can get em from anywhere or are they skoda specific?... best way of getting whats left of the sodding thing out of the caliper I'm guessing is gonna be with a small stud extractor..

well, had the pass/side brake drum apart, ****ing down now so not gonna do drivers side today I don't think, only thing I can actually see wrong with it is the location washer is broken that holds one of the springs onto a pin about half way down the shoes... pretty sure that isn't going to cause my problems, I had the missus press the brake gently while I had it apart and neither of the pistons in the cylinder moved at all, this is making me thing that the problem is lying either with the master cylinder or simply that I've still got air in the system...

edit: Drivers side drum been apart now, all looks good in there as well.

Edited 19 July, 200817 yr by Tenman

well, think thats screwed it... chipped the cast of the caliper a bit trying to get the remains of the nipple out, looks like i need to get a new caliper now as well...

hehe... I still love this car as well... honest...

sounds like the rear brakes are to blame from your initial description if the brake goes half way when bleeding the rears and down to the floor when bleeding the fronts (the front circuit causing the resistance halfway down its travel when bleeding the rears)

the master cylinder is probably fine if it worked before you bled it so my money would be on the rear circuit needing more work

when my rear brake pipe burst the pedal went down to the halfway position and the car was harder to stop (ie the front wheels locking more often because the rears werent doing anything)

well, just ordered a new caliper plus a few other bits from Jorily, hopefully get it all sorted this weekend...