Spongy brake pedal

[ColombianMax]

The problem is happening in my girlfriends 1989 Maxima SE and here's the list of stuff put in and work done:

New front:
pads
rotors

New rear:
Pads
rotors
calipers

new (reman) master cylinder x 2

Just before anyone says the job was done wrong, I will post how it was done. MC was bench bled on a table vice before being installed, then installed, rear calipers were bled first followed by front. Lines arent leaking and fluid is still in MAX line. After installing MC and noticing it still sinks down we bled MC while installed but still no use.

Now I already posted this on the org but since most of you here are from 4th gen and up sections I figured you guys didnt read and will have good advice. If no one else can help I hope at least Mike know wtf is going on lol

Thanks in advanced guys
--John

[walec05]

i say your doing something wrong while bleeding it, or what i have seen in aftermarket Master Cylinders....like from murrays or pepboys....they are made with shitty quality, and the seals are not positioned right, so they suck in air internally. cuz there is no other explination for it, if you bleeding it right.

[ColombianMax]

Wow so many members and only 1 reply, thanks Paul :)

Well her father is a mechanic and we bled and installed MC together 1st time and second (warrantied to see if it was defective) but nothing..He also said that he hated using cheapo autozone or murrays type master cylinders as they are crap even with the lifetime warranty. So I dont know.

I'm pretty sure we bled it correctly so there's gotta be another problem. Brian mentioned on org that we might wanna try bleeding "system pressure" or something like that

[Brian]

Pressure bleeding the system.

[Kowalski]

i'd try to help but anything i would say here would be BS...

[sweet3rdgen]

I have three questions,

First, you say that you did rears first and then fronts when bleeding. Which rear first? Always start at the cylinder farthest away from the MC, then work thru the other cylinders in a pattern that ends with the closest cylinder. I am sure you did this, just asking a question I haven't seen asked yet.

Second, how are you bleeding the system? Are you using the old tried and true "one person depresses the pedal while the other opens the bleeder screw" method? If so, always make sure the person in the vehicle depressing the pedal keeps a slow, constant pressure on the pedal, never pumping. Pumping the pedal can, and usually does, suck air into the system. I always have the person depressing the pedal slowly start to depress the pedal as I loosen the bleeder and and tighten as they have it down. I sometimes have to do this several times. I also do this with a hose attached to the bleeder going into a bottle, as to not make a mess.

How are your brake lines? This question explains itself.

Beyond that I only have what everyone else has said, bad MC.

[ColombianMax]

I have three questions,

First, you say that you did rears first and then fronts when bleeding. Which rear first? Always start at the cylinder farthest away from the MC, then work thru the other cylinders in a pattern that ends with the closest cylinder. I am sure you did this, just asking a question I haven't seen asked yet.

Second, how are you bleeding the system? Are you using the old tried and true "one person depresses the pedal while the other opens the bleeder screw" method? If so, always make sure the person in the vehicle depressing the pedal keeps a slow, constant pressure on the pedal, never pumping. Pumping the pedal can, and usually does, suck air into the system. I always have the person depressing the pedal slowly start to depress the pedal as I loosen the bleeder and and tighten as they have it down. I sometimes have to do this several times. I also do this with a hose attached to the bleeder going into a bottle, as to not make a mess.

How are your brake lines? This question explains itself.

Beyond that I only have what everyone else has said, bad MC.


As you said, the brakes were bled the typical way by having 2 people on pressing brake and one opening and closing bleeder and yes starting with farthest from MC. I was the one pressing pedal and yes I did it slow with 2 feet to go as far down as possible. I didnt use the hose for each caliper but did on MC.

The breaklines arent bad, they look like your typical old lines but not excessively rusted or leaking.

So its gonna be getting pressure bled this week by her dad..he has the lil thingy to do it. thanks

[walec05]

power bleed it, and if that doesnt work, you know you have a leak, and its most likely the master cylinder.....as you said it youself, even the lifetime warranty ones from murrays arent that great.

[sweet3rdgen]

Keep us posted and good luck

[kcf881]

Check the ABS actuator, just to be sure

[ColombianMax]

Nope, sorry cant do that. No ABS

[Deman1134]

yea my POS abs modulator/actuator is leakin internally and now sends no fluid to the rears. so i need a used one prob from JY since new ones are a lottttt. I dont know if you could be of any help paul, unless u know of sum cheap ones?