No I did not spell it wrong. We're talking car brakes here.
I went to bleed the brakes yesterday. You always start at the furthest wheel from the master cylinder, that usually being the passenger's side rear.
I got a small chunk of hose, a beer bottle (previously emptied) which I partially filled with water, and an 11mm wrench. Crack the bleeder valve open, get inside and pump the pedal a couple of times, check out the bottle. If there is evidence of brake fluid in the water, close the valve, check the pedal and move on.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times I pumped the brake pedal, no fluid ever appeared.
This is not a good thing. There are a couple of possible reasons, and neither of them is good. Either the master cylinder of the wheel cylinder is bad.
I started out by replacing the master cylinder, stealing the one out of the parts car. WHen I put the new/used master cylinder in, I could pump up the brakes, a positive sign. However, I still couldn't get the rear wheel cylinder to bleed.
So I had to tear the whole thing down to the backing plate. I must say that this is the strangest braking system I have ever seen.
When I got the wheel cylinder out, it was packed with this greyish/greenish deposit. The hole from the brake line into the wheel cylinder was packed so full, I had to use a small diameter drill to clear the line.
The actual parts seem to be in very good order, so I think I can just clean things up and put it back together.
Then on to the other rear wheel.
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