Excessive brake pedal travel

[s990wg3]

I've rebuilt my whole braking system. Rebuilt all my calipers. all new lines. all new hoses. new master cylinder. all new pads and discs. new compensator in rear. all calipers bleed just fine.

I've got about 3 inches of travel before any real braking starts taking place.

when I stand on the pedal the fronts lock up and the rears don't, I've adjusted the compensator to both extremes of it's travel.

It sure seems the brake pedal should be a lot firmer higher up in it's travel and if I stand on those brakes with all my might all four of those wheels should lock up with or without that compensator.

Does any body have any Ideas of why I have so much pedal travel. and such weak braking in the rear.

[So Cal Mark]

probably have air trapped in the compensator. To properly bleed the rear you have to disconnect the compensator link and wire it up as high as it will go. Best to use a pressure bleeder also, or do a reverse bleeding procedure

[s990wg3]

I spent the evening looking for something to make a pressure bleeder out of. I found an old garden sprayer, a plastic lid from an insecticide bottle that screwed on my master cylinder perfectly, a little cork gasket material, a brass fitting and a small hose clamp. wala! a pressure bleeder.


I tied up the compinsator as instructed. I didn't put any brake fluid in the bleeder I just put it on and pumped it up. I just made sure that the master cylinder didn't go dry.

The thing worked great, it pushed all kinds of air out of the rear brake lines. Now I have a good stiff pedal. and the car stops good.

Here's a snap shot of my spider.

[So Cal Mark]

very innovative, but you've introduced air into your reservoir which will shorten the fluid life. Air contains moisture. Real pressure bleeders separate the fluid from air via a diaphragm. I'd get a cheap turkey baster and suck the fluid out of the reservoir and refill it with fluid from a sealed container

[manoa matt]

There is a layer of air in the master reservoir all the time. (Unless you don't abide by the suggested max fill line and fill it till the fluid is level with the cap) Besides the system is non circulatory so that fluid will stay in the reservoir untill you bleed the system again, in which case you would suck that out first anyway.

If an air compressor without an oil/vapor seperator was used as part of a pressure bleeder system then I would be suspicious.