Basic Brake Bleeding; Not So Much; No Fluid Flow

Hey guys. First time poster. So I took off all the calipers on my 2010 Tundra SR5 to paint them, new pads etc. Upon disassembly, all the lines seemed to be dripping brake fluid ok. Never had issues in the past; no soft pedal, low engagement or similar. Got everything back on this afternoon. Set up my Motive powerbleeder up to 15 psi. Held steady pressure so I started on back right caliper. A little fluid came out, not enough to even reach the catch bottle and then stopped. Same on back left, front right and front left. Thought maybe something was wrong/clogged in calipers. So I took off all brake lines going into calipers one by one. Nothing. Not even a drip from any of them. What? Mind you, this is with the powerbleeder now up to 20 psi. I then reconnected all lines back into calipers, took the powerbleeder off, and opened up all bleeders. Started the engine, pumped the brakes one time long and slow to bottom, and all 4 bleeders spit out a fair amount of fluid. Hmmmm. Topped the reservoir tank off, closed all bleeders, reconnected the powerbleeder, and tried again this time with the brake pedal halfway down starting w the back right. Same as first try. A tiny tiny bit of fluid from the bleeders, but that’s it.

What tundra basic bleeding procedure am I missing? Is there some ABS override? I’m quite certain that the MC never went dry. This is a basic job I should be able to knock out in 30 minutes with the powerbleeder and here I am 5 hrs later w nothing...

 

So it works with pushing the pedal but not the power bleeder? So something has to be wrong with the power bleeder. Does it have a check valve? Is it clogged? Leaking air? I have a non power bleeder with check valve and it has to be above the bleeder screw for anything to come out. Do the bleeder screws retighten slightly when you let go?

 

Thanks for the reply. Sorry, powerbleeder is just the name Motive gives their pressure bleeder. It’s just the basic setup w/out a check valve. I have a tight seal on it at the reservoir. Holds 15 psi so not a sealing issue on the pressure bleeder. Didn’t notice bleeders retightening at all when letting go. By chance, does the engine have to be running on these tundras to create more pressure? Wouldn’t think so w the pressure bleeder creating steady 15 psi, but I’m just scrambling for answers at this point...

 

Welcome aboard from SoCal.

 

I use this to bleed mine and it’s worked good so far. I don’t have the engine running, but I do take the mc cap off. I usually go through a few bottles every time so it turns in to more of a flush. You can do it with one person with this bleeder. Do you have someone that can help you and do it the old fashioned way? Until you figure out the issue with the bleeder.

$30 Allstar Performance ALL11017 Bleeder Bottle with Magnet and Check Valve , White

https://www.amazon.com/Allstar-Performance-ALL11017-Bleeder-Bottle/dp/B00F9XHVKA

 

Timsp8, thanks for the reply. not sure what you mean by the MC cap coming off? Only cap I'm removing is the MC reservoir cap and sealing the Motive pressure bleeder adapter in its place. Just spoke to Motive and they said this happens every now and then with different cars. That doesnt make any sense to me. Anyway, he suggested using both the pressure bleeder and old-school way of pumping the brake manually. Kinda defeats the purpose of having the pressure bleeder, but at this point I'll try anything to get this job behind.

 

That’s weird, I’ve used the motive power bleeder a few times w no issues. Now I’m curious if there’s a trick w the tundra. Just did my mazda last week, exact process you described, no issues.

 

Yup, that's my hunch. I'm missing something very basic/stupid particular to the Tundra. Something is not allowing the pressure bleeder to push through the power brakes

 

Try bleeding the shit out of it using the 2 person method, I think there's still alot of air in the system.

I can easily push with my foot more than 20 psi.

And no, the engine does not need to be running.

 

Yeah I meant the master cylinder cap. I’ve never used a power bleeder and didn’t know it has something that goes on top of the mc. I wonder if it’s creating a vacuum and that’s why you aren’t getting anything out. But others used it so I don’t know.

 

Another good method is to use Self Bleeders Valves at each wheel. Simply turn the Bleeder 1/2 turn and it opens the Valve to push fluid out but not let air pull back in.

Cut a hole in a plastic water bottle and jam it on the Bleeder. 5-10 pumps each time and look. Refill Cylinder Rez and repeat. No problems ever doing it this way.

Put a block on the floor to keep from pushing the pedal past its normal.

 

Yup, thanks guys. Appreciate all the input. Went with the 2 person old school method and ran through 2 quarts of fluid just to make sure I got everything out. All good; firm pedal, engaging at the top, etc. And just for sh*ts and giggles I then hooked up the Motive pressure bleeder again just to see what would happen. Same problem. So no pressure bleeders for my Tundra. At some point, I'm gonna figure out why that's happening - after seeing the countless youtube videos of guys using it to bang out perfect bleeding jobs by themselves in 20 minutes.

 

I have the same problem! I even bought the fancy aluminum adapter cap for the master cylinder and no go! I wanted to flush the system and I usually am always working alone so I figured it would be great….can’t get any flow.

 

I have done this very job on my ABS 03 4Runner. I did not use a pressure bleeder, I did the old school. But before doing the bleed you need to try this,,,,,,, turn the key on and pump the break peddle about 20 times unltil the ABS pump stops pumping then do the Old school brake by brake having someone push the pedal down and hold while the bleeder at the caliper is open, then while holding pedal down close bleeder then pump a few times and repeat until you get good pressure and no bubbles coming out of drain line. The old school method has never failed me, the only difference is that the pedal needs to be pumped with the key is on to activate the pump.

 

Should fill the master up and open the line one by one until you see fluid drip out first b4 using the bleeder

 

I had success with my power bleeder on my 2010. however, I recently had the same problem my buddies 2014/15 Tundra.

Old school method worked fine, power bleeder did not push any fluid.

I'm interested to hear if you figure it out. Maybe 15 PSI isn't enough? Granted I wouldn't want to go any higher.
I found a crazy expensive adapter for the power bleeder for the tundra Master Cylinder Reservoir. I chickened out on price though ($60 bucks I think).

Its frustrating having a special tool to do a job and it not working for it's only job, especially if you bought it just for the Tundra.

Good luck.

 

You might try pushing on the brake pedal with pressure on the top of MC and see if you have flow.