Offroad-Express

Hey guys

After replacing my snapped rear brake line I put new fluid in and bled it but I realised afterwards that the stuff I put in was power steering fluid good old unlabelled bottles

The brakes were working sweet as (with the PS fluid) then all of a sudden when we were driving we just lost all brakes completely and the pedal feels different.

Its not going to the floor as it would with no fluid etc but it just goes a little way in (1/4 pedal press) then it just goes rock hard.

Theres still plenty of fluid in it (which I will be replacing with dot 4)

Any ideas?

Cheers

Caleb

yea I have actually done that before with a clutch... The power steering fluid will swell all the rubbers and stuffs the seals. I would start by rekitting the brake master cylinder. Hopefully the rest of the system will be ok.

Hmmm which fluid to use red or yellow

Anyway as pete said pull off the mastercylinder an get the seals replaced, chances are the atf hasnt made it to the calipers an wheel cylinders so if you take off the lines before they go into the brakes an bleed them there you should be ok

Dont bleed them thru the bleed nipples or youll just push the atf thru everything

Hmmmmmmm we may have a problem here then

The PS fluid is well and truely through the whole system as when i replaced my brakeline there was no fluid in the system at all.


Not ideal as I wanted to use the surf over the weekend for my birthday...

Whats the fastest way to fix it? and how much dare i ask?

If it was me id do the following
Replace all seals in Master cylinder.
Replace all seals in calipers.
Total replacement of rear cylinders. (I replaced these cpl of weeks ago $21 each.)
Before you do any of this flush out with new fluid.
You cant afford to take any short cuts....brakes are kinda important.
In the future only ever use brand new fluid.
Fluid you keep in an opened bottle will absorb water (hydroscopic) & will then go into your brake system causing it to corrode.This is more likely if you dont use your 4wd very often.

Cheers dude.

It was new fluid but I had just put it into another container and got them mixed up.

Is it a mission to replace those seals?

uwshho wrote:Cheers dude.

It was new fluid but I had just put it into another container and got them mixed up.

Is it a mission to replace those seals?

If you are asking this question at midday on Friday, then i wouldn't be expecting to use the truck on the weekend
See how hard it is to get the master cylinder out first, then there will be one brake line with the nut siezed, then that will be rounded off, a steel line will fracture, etc, etc.
Cut off point for my own repairs when going out on Saturday, is Thursday night. Gives time to source bits and make things before a weekend
Hope ya get it done in time

uwshho wrote:Is it a mission to replace those seals?

nah its just going to take a lot of time to go around the whole truck mate, make sure you replace every seal and do it properly coz I dont want to be coming the other way if your brakes fail again

sibainmud wrote:

uwshho wrote:Cheers dude.

It was new fluid but I had just put it into another container and got them mixed up.

Is it a mission to replace those seals?

If you are asking this question at midday on Friday, then i wouldn't be expecting to use the truck on the weekend
See how hard it is to get the master cylinder out first, then there will be one brake line with the nut siezed, then that will be rounded off, a steel line will fracture, etc, etc.
Cut off point for my own repairs when going out on Saturday, is Thursday night. Gives time to source bits and make things before a weekend
Hope ya get it done in time

Haha I think the truck for the weekend is out of the question. Just went to repco and they want me to have a show and tell for every seal...

Too bad Jase isnt at Bnt would have made my day alot easier.

Its too hot to be working on trucks now anyway it doesnt help that I dont have a clue what im doing as ive never touched brakes before (apart from bleeding or doing pads).

Sadam_Husain wrote:

uwshho wrote:Is it a mission to replace those seals?

nah its just going to take a lot of time to go around the whole truck mate, make sure you replace every seal and do it properly coz I dont want to be coming the other way if your brakes fail again

I will try my best to do it properly just in case im ever driving round welly the trucks gotta make it there first

Oh and the other question I now have is... when I undo the nipple to bleed the brakes and pump the pedal nothing happens, no fluid comes out and the pedal feels exactly the same. It kinda feels like something is jamming it.

yea that is because the seals in the master cylinder are stuffed and its not compressing the fluid like it should. Replacing the master cylinder is rather easy. wouldn't take more than an hour max. Where are you? BNT are good even if your mate doesn't work there they know more than repco most of the time. Ask for trade!

For the master you could also try wreckers. If you can get a kit from BNT is it quite straightforward to rekit them from memory. I have got parts before from parts master who are ok. Bulter auto mart in chch has been good too but they get lots of parts from parts master.

To replace the rear cylinders is easy as long as the drums aren't too warn they should just come off. If they are a bit hard to get off then there are two threaded holes that you can put bolts into to pull the drums off. If that doesn't get them off easy then you are in for a big day, use force! haha. ( from memory you can pop off the rubber grommet on the back and hold back the stopper then wind the tensioner backwards to loosen the pads)

Cylinders should be about 20 a side at a guess from repco or bnt.

For the front you need to pull off the calipers. If the brakes were fine before this you can guess that most of the cylinders/pots are in ok condition and not seized (if any of them look very worn then replace them as they are cheap, the guys at bnt will let you know if you are not sure) For the calipers I would budget up to $100 at a guess

If you are struggling to get the pots out then pull the caliper off the rotor before you disconnect the break line. Put a thin bit of wood between the pots and get a mate to pump the brake pedal and the will pop out.

then there is a seal on each pot that needs replacing. I got mine from BNT and they were reasonably priced. Took the old ones in for that I think there are a couple of sizes.

If it was me I would start with the master cylinder and see how it goes. If it pulls at all at any stage then I would move onto the rear cylinders and then calipers (slam your brakes on on gravel to see which wheels are not locking up and that will tell you where to start but if you do one side do the other!)

However I am a tight ass.....

Cheers,
Pete

Cheers Pete

Some helpful info there.

Im slightly confused with the master cylinder ive undone the 4 bolts and 2 lines off it and pulled the reservoir/plunger thing off the end (forgive my lack of part name knowledge I teach myself as I go and unfortunatly they dont have labels ) Is that all I need to pull off or have I missed something?

I think I will get a mate to help me with the rest it sounds kinda complicated.

The PS fluid has only been in there for about 5 days it was only driven once or twice.

As far as brake stuff goes dont under estimate genuine toyota for price I found when doing brake shit toyota is actually alot cheaper than the trade prices I can get thru BNT or Ripco. Just bought rear caliper seals today for my 80 series diff for $56 which is the same as I paid for my surf front caliper kit last year for my fj40. Give them a try too. I do have a spare surf master cylinder but its in storage in Taranaki

Oh sweet I might give toyota a call then

Right well iv replaced the master cylinder and the front calipers are sweet as they are all cleaned up and mint.

We tried bleeding the rear but nothing happened so we bled the front and thats all sweet the brake pedal is nice and firm now but still nothing coming out the rear.

I have detached the brake line from the hub and still nothing coming out

Any ideas?

Brake hose may have swollen closed from the atf,keep loosening joints from there forward till you find the blockage.

Cool cheers dude ill try that.