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1986 Volvo 240 unable to get the brake to be firm at all. 911 help!!!

I

icdpride

Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2014
Location
Denver Colorado
I have a 1986 Volvo 244dl non abs and I cannot for the life of me get the pedal for the brakes to get firm and by firm I mean really hold pressure at all. I replaced the master cylinder, the 4 hard lines that come from the distribution block, and the left front caliper. I have bench bleed the master and I have tried every type of bleeding method beside pushing fluid in from the bleeder. I followed the Haynes repair manual for bleeding and I have still had no luck. I am loosing my mind trying to get this bleed please help me turbobricksanobi you my only hope
 
Interesting. If they aren't firming up then there must be a leak somewhere. I remember when I bought my car, the first thing I did was the breaks, had the same issue, couldn't figure out why the hell it wouldn't firm up. Turned out one of the brass lines to the caliper wasn't tight enough.

-Check all of the lines for moisture (oil) and the fittings as well.
-Check the break pistons for possible leak.

I'm guessing you've used the method where you submerge the line in oil and press the break? This is the "one man method"
Did you make sure that the hose was raised above the caliper so it could have a path for air to sit?
 
Use a power bleeder. Autozone has them in the "loan a tool " i had air stuck in the rear lines forever until i use it. Mityvac Mv6840 pushes fluid through from the master
 
It's not the "hard lines" that go bad but the soft, rubber ones. Also check to make sure your rebuilt front caliper was rebuilt correctly, matching dimples on each side of caliper. What/ how are you bleeding the brakes?
 
nel621 said:
It's not the "hard lines" that go bad but the soft, rubber ones. Also check to make sure your rebuilt front caliper was rebuilt correctly, matching dimples on each side of caliper. What/ how are you bleeding the brakes?
Click to expand...

Yeah I have tested all the soft lines under pressure and none of them balloon under pressure. The caliper seems correct. For bleeding I have tried bleeding the one man way with a hose connected to the bleeder and the other submerged in brake fluid and then pumping the pedal, the 2 man method where one person pushes and hold the pedal, tried that way with suction on it and have tried a homemade power bleeder made from a garden sprayer.

Is it possible the hard lines are hooked up wrong on the calipers? Are the 2 ports on the caliper specific?
 
A few things.

1. When I did calipers, I have a power bleeder or whatever, and it STILL took a while to get the pedal to firm up. For whatever reason... air can get stuck oddly in the system.
2. You know that there are multiple bleed ports right?
 
EivlEvo said:
A few things.

1. When I did calipers, I have a power bleeder or whatever, and it STILL took a while to get the pedal to firm up. For whatever reason... air can get stuck oddly in the system.
2. You know that there are multiple bleed ports right?
Click to expand...

Yes there are 8 in total 3 on each caliper in the front and 1 per caliper in the rear correct?
 
Sounds right... I have no idea rn tbh.

The calipers take a lot of fluid man... when I did my stuff I think I pumped GD 2 bottles through it.

If you're using a system that works as a vac AND a pressure setup, you can try running both ways? I did that on my 87 and had good results but I recall reading that may be frowned upon with ABS cars... which yours isn't so like...
 
I also remember the order was different in the chiltons or haynes vs the greenbook or whatever other ones I was looking at...

I'm being extremely helpful rn sorry lol
 
You cracked open the whole system. Sometimes air bubbles get caught, and even with a power bleeder they will not come out. I suggest you start at the master, bleed it, go to the distribution block, crack open and bleed it, then work your way to the calipers. I would do all of this with the power bleeder attached, but each connection needs to be opened.
Been there many times on many vehicles.
 
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