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AIR STILL IN BRAKE LINES!!!!

1644 Views 7 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  cadams8221218
  • First time posting i believe. I have a 97 avalon xls. Have had a soft break for awhile. First i got the master cylinder replaced and the mechanic tried to bleed the breaks. Forgot exactly what happened but he didnt bleed my breaks all the way because one of the nuts on the line was too tight to loosen. This was almost a year ago. So last month i finally took it to a local shop where they replaced my slave brake cylinder. They also replaced a rusted brake line which is located on the driver side right about at the rear door. Replaced all my calipers as well. When i first got the car back it felt exactly the same. I figured there was still air in the lines and took it back. He said it was and bled them. They feel better but when i brake sometime i still feel air in the line. I have a brake bleeder kit and want to just bleed them myself. My assumption is he didnt take the proper time to get ALL the air out. I just talked to a reputable mechanic who says it can take a while to really rid the lines of air sometime on a vehicle this age. Thx in advance guys.
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Umm why did they replace the calipers? And there isn't a "slave cylinder" in the brake system, as technically the calipers themselves are what would be considered a kind of slave cylinder... sorta. Your shop sounds sketchy if that is what they told you they replaced. Bleeding brakes is a simple procedure, you can do it with one or two people, but I prefer two. If you have a MityVac, just follow the instructions to bleed the brakes, its pretty straight forward. Often overlooked procedure though is bleeding the brakes in order. Can't recall what that is for the Avy, but typically it's pass-rear, driver-rear, pass-front, driver-front. Just make sure you crack the master-cylinders cap, and don't forget to add more fluid to it as you are bleeding, or you'll just add more air to the system.

You may want to also check the vacuum lines leading to the brake booster. It's the big black round guy that the master cylinder is attached to. It will have a couple vacuum lines coming from it, just follow those lines and check for tears and damage.

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Thx alot for the help. I'll take a pic of the part he said was the slave cylinder. He showed it to me. He said the calipers werent engaging properly. They are pretty old. Firestone also recommended the same thing a year ago as well. I have the brake bleeder tool. I'll try it myself. I will say though that i assume he knows how to bleed brakes. So the fact that there is still air in the system makes me think there is either a leak somewhere or something else might need to be replaced. A hose. Line, brake booster maybe. Pretty much everything was and is an original component in regards to the brake system. And there is 239,963 on the odometer. Thx again
I had a certified mechanic ive know and trusted for 10 years bleed the brakes. He sed the abs sensor is in the back on my car so he just bled the front. But i did open the back lines the day before and fluid was coming out in a pretty good stream. He then told me i shouldnt have anymore air in the lines. I then drove it around and i still get the sputerring brake pedal sometime when i stop. The abs light is going on and off. I have different sized tires on my car. They take 205 65 94h. But the only that is a 205 65 is the left rear and its 92h. The driver rear tire is 195/60 i believe but definitely not the right size. He said once i get the correct size on both rear tires i should stop having the issue which isnt air in the lines but the abs kicking in and the tires stopping at different speeds because they are different sizes. Ive been driving this car for 13 years and never had this issue and i know for sur ive had different size tires back there. He also said the abs sensor could be dirty which is giving a false reading. I thought the abs feature felt more herky jerky like u can actually feel the calipers quickly grabbing the rotor. This doesnt feel that way. Its a soft sputter. Definitely doesnt feel like the calipers are engaging rapidly. I still have to check the vacuum line to the brake booster which i believe is the original. Im not sure what to believe now. Thx in advance again guys. I really love this car. It was my grand dads and the engine and transmission is strong. I wanna keep it going
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He sed the abs sensor is in the back on my car so he just bled the front.
I’m not sure what he meant by that, but there is a wheel speed sensor on all four wheels. If any of the four don’t “see” the same rotational speed the ABS will kick in. This will feel like a rapid shudder at the brake pedal. I think your tire size mismatch is the problem. But it could also be a marginally bad wheel speed sensor. Have the codes been read for the ABS system?

If there is air in the system, that will have no effect on the ABS system. It will make the brake pedal feel mushy.
No. Codes have not been read. What code would i be looking for. Im getting four brand new tires in the proper size this week so I'll check back with those results in a few days
This method of checking for ABS codes is from the Camry forum, so it may or may not work. A bad wheel speed sensor can cause the symptoms you’re seeing, so that’s what you might find by reading the codes.
So I've had 4 brand new tires on for about a month now. Same issue. Abs is kicking in and i still have a very soft pedal and delayed stopping. To recap i had new calipers and pads put on. A brake line was rusted and leaking on the drivers side near the back door. It was replaced. I also had a new master brake cylinder put on last year. I think i need a brake booster. Or atleast i hope so. Brakes have been bled as well. What the heck could it be. At tgis point im ready to just say forget it and get something else
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