Bleeding Brakes ABS '92 Regal

Six cylinder.ABS brakes.

Got this '92 Regal about a year ago. The brake line to the rear passenger brake rusted through last week.. I replaced the line and had to buy a new calliper for the right passenger side because I stripped the bleeder-that's the last time I use cheap imitation Vise Grips instead of the real thing! :banghead:


When taking the wheels off I noticed the rear driver's side-not the side with the broken brake line-had no pad in it. However, the brakes worked well before the brake line broke, so I don't see where that is a problem for now.

I bled the brakes twice. The first time, the car was not running, and the brakes pumped up, but when I turned the engine on the pedal lost pressure.

The second time I bled them-twice-while the engine was running. It pumped up pretty decent. Then I turned the engine off, put all the wheels back on, (I had the entire car up on jack stands for bleeding purposes), touched the brake-and the pedal had virtually no pressure.

I have bled brakes on older cars before-never ABS-and usually bleeding them twice is enough. However, I keep reading on the newer cars-new as in the nineties, lol-that homebrew bleeding is not particularly recommended. However, if you do want to do it yourself, you must bleed them repeatedly over and over to get all the air out-it's not like the older cars.

A) Is this true?

B) If this is not true, where do I go from here?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to AF!!

With a 92 Regal you shouldn't need any special equipment to bleed the brakes. Some of the newer cars require a scan tool to bleed the brakes with ABS but the older ones usually would work just like non-abs. I suggest that you bleed the master cylinder to make sure it doesn't have air in it. Because the line was broken it is possible that the master cylinder went dry and is causing the issue. Once it is properly bled bleed the brakes again and you shouldn't have any issues.

Also be sure to check for a vacuum leak at the booster. The valve may be bad and not allowing you to get proper boost and pressure out of the system. Otherwise you are going to end up at a mechanic.

Thank you so much for your prompt answer.

A) How do I bleed the master cylinder?

B) Where is the booster and how do I check for a vacuum leak? I know a vacuum gauge which I don't have is the easy answer, but I wonder if there might not be some handy visual inspection to give a clue.

C) Referring to the master cylinder again. Before I did anything, I consulted a Chilton's which said to remove 2/3 of the brake fluid from the master cylinder before working on the brakes. The only thing I could think of to get the fluid out of the master cylinder was to buy a cheap turkey gravy baster and suck it out that way. Well, it's dark down there in the cylinder and I might well have overdone it.

Could this be the cause of the whole problem, (crossing fingers hoping that it is)?

To bleed the master cylinder purchase a bleeder kit. Remove the lines leading to the master cylinder and place the plastic tubing into the openings. Fill the cylinder with fluid about 3/4 full and pump the brakes gently. Have the tubing running back into the master cylinder as you pump that way the fluid will replenish itself in this case. When you don't get any bubbles the master cylinder has been bled. Replace the lines and then bleed the brakes again.

I don't know what book you read, but it was totally wrong, anytime you bleed the brakes always work with the master cylinder completely full and never let it run dry as this can cause the problems you mentioned.

The booster is a large round can located behind the master cylinder and abs. On some of GM's cars they are hygraulicly boosted. If that is the case you won't have a vacuum booster. If it is vacuum boosted there will be a large black line leading from the engine to the booster. Pull the vacuum line from the booster. Put your finger over the end and rev the engine. It should pull vacuum on your thumb. If it holds vacuum then the valve is good. Poor mans way of checking the valve.

Got some questions about bleeding the master cylinder. I got the brake bleeder kit from NAPA.

A) The bleeding kit has two tubes for the bleeding. However, there are four lines going to the master cylinder. Are there two specific lines I should bleed, or do I bleed two, reattach the fittings, then bleed the other two?


B) The instructions say fill the master cylinder with fluid, you say fill 3/4. Why the difference?

C) Of the four lines going to the master cylinder, (that part has two transistors or IC's on top, correct?) one has a nut larger than the others. Counting 1-2-3-4 from the front of the car, it is #2. Is there any significance to that?

D) The part of the master cylinder where the brake lines go into also has what appears to be two nipples, facing the front of the car, with no hoses attached. Is this good?

Behind the master cylinder is a large can mounted to the frame dividing the engine compartment from the passenger compartment. So I guess I don't have a vaccum booster.

Thank you very much for your help so far.

Okay, did some looking around the net and got a picture of my brake system, which you can get from the following link:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/kelticwizard100/DelcoVI.jpg

I now know that the transistor/IC on top is the "solenoid".

A) I took that hydraulic booster part of the pic and reproduced it larger at the bottom with the ports numbered from the front of the car, in case you have any instructions that require distinguishing between them. On my car, number 2 has a bigger fitting than the others.

B) Do I bleed the master cylinder from any of the ports coming out of the hycraulic booster?

C) If not, do I use the "transfer tubes" instead? If so, the transfer tubes do not seem to be reachable, at least not last evening at dusk. In order to get at them, (if I need to), do I take off the "through bolt" on the hydraulic booster as on the illustration? If not, what do I do?

D) As long as I have the illustration as a reference for instructions, should I bleed the hydraulic booster too, and if so, how?

I've dealt with brakes and master cylinders before, but on older cars and not with this fancy stuff, lol.

Again, your help so far has been appreciated.