reatta brake failure

[Guest steakneggs]

1988 Reatta.I had to replace the rear metal brake lines due to rust. I gravity bled them. Now I have no rear brakes or power assist. Both brake lights are on. Pump motor runs forever without building pressure. Help! The brakes worked fine before the line rusted.

[Barney Eaton]

The rusted line may have caused other problems.

The Teves ABS system works differently than many other brake units. When you hit the brake pedal, it opens a valve to give a unlimited flow of fluid to the rear. This may have emptied the rear circuit and you may still have some air in there.

Before going further, I would re-bleed the rear, and all you need to do is open the bleeder and have your helper push the pedal....once the pedal is pressed (with the key ON), you will get continious fluid flow to the rear. Do that until you get no air out of the bleeder. Use caution not to let the resevoir run dry.

Once you are sure you have all the air out of the system,

Verify that the pump is working (if the pump is not working the above bleed process will not function)

Assuming the pump is working, how may times can you hit the pedal before the pump kicks on, if only one or two times, then the accumulator is bad.

Try the above and report back with the symptoms.

[Guest kennyw]

barney: I would think it does the same for the front system. The valve must be varible so you don't get full pressure when opened...........explain. If this is true it must be easy to bleed the brake system, no pumping the pedel. ken

[Guest steakneggs]

Thanx for the reply. I've tried bleeding them with a helper with the key on; nothing came out. And the pump is running continuously. It never gets up to the pressure it needs to shut off. I've had it on for 10-15 minutes at a time without pressure building. Also I'm not real concerned with retaining the anti-lock function at this point. Is there any way that whatever prevents the loss of power assist and rear brakes can be defeated?

[Ronnie]

Try using these instructions. Follow them to the T, step by step in the order they are written. Forget what you normally do when bleeding a regular brake system. Pump, hold, bleed and repeat - does not work properly on the TEVES system.

Since your lines are probably full of air it will take some time and a lot of brake fluid to get the brakes bled properly.

[Ronnie]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: steakneggs</div><div class="ubbcode-body">1988 Reatta.I had to replace the rear metal brake lines due to rust. I gravity bled them. Now I have no rear brakes or power assist. Both brake lights are on. Pump motor runs forever without building pressure. Help! The brakes worked fine before the line rusted. </div></div>

Do you still have front brakes? Will the car stop at all?

[Guest EDBSO]

Simply sounds as though you are pumping out the rear half of the reservoir. Fill the reservoir and keep adding to it. Follow the "unique" rear bleeding directions.

ATE Super Blue Racing High Performance Brake Fluid is designed to excel within the extreme demands made on a race vehicle and exceeds all DOT4 standards. It is compatible with and will mix well with most DOT3, DOT4, or DOT 5.1 fluids.

The formula offers a minimal drop in boiling point due to outstanding water binding properties resulting in a long-lasting fluid that may not need to be changed for up to 3 years under normal highway driving conditions. Products with a lower wet boiling point have to be replaced considerably more often (e.g., DOT3 products should be replaced annually). The overall high dry and wet boiling points make this fluid an excellent choice for street driven vehicles, too, where brake fluid is flushed less frequently than that in race-driven vehicles.

Features/Benefits of ATE Super Blue Racing Brake Fluid:

Blue tint of fluid makes bleeding brakes easier

Ideal for race use, excellent choice for street driven vehicles, too

Boiling point minimum: 536 degrees F

Wet boiling point minimum: 388 degrees F

Viscosity at -104 degrees F: max 1,400 mm 2/5

Designed to last up to 3 years under normal highway driving conditions

To maintain the functional reliability of brake systems, brake fluid must be changed according to the specifications of the vehicle manufacturer (quality and change interval). In race/track applications, it becomes even more critical that the brake fluid is routinely changed to maintain optimum performance

[jonlabree]

Any one interested in buying this fliud. I just found a site that sells a liter of it for $13.00. Every one else wants $12.95 for a pint.

https://www.hrpworld.com:8000/index.cfm

[Guest steakneggs]

The car has front brakes but with no power assist. I bled the system as per the factory manual instructions on this site but nothing came out of the bleeder valves. So I gravity bled a quart of fluid through to fill the new lines. I'm pretty sure they are full. But still nothing with key on and helper pushing on brake. The pump is running. Where could all that pressure be going?