Cadillac CTS-V Forum banner

Cannot bleed brakes

15K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  seawolf06 
#1 ·
So I recently had my calipers powder coated. While the calipers were off for two weeks I think most of the fluid drained out. Anyway I've got the calipers installed with new ss lines. I've bin attempting to bleed them with no success. I'm using the motive power bleeder. The one you pump up attached to the reservoir I've gone through numerous quarts of fluid. It looks like I have no bubbles coming out but then the pedal pretty much goes to the floor. I'm doing r/r l/r r/f then l/f inner first on each caliper then outer. What am I doing wrong? Any tricks to getting these brakes to bleed? It really shouldn't be this difficult lol.
 
#4 ·
If all the fluid drained out I think you may need a tech2 so you can bleed the abs. The lines should of been clamped or plugged to keep most of the fluid in the lines/abs.
The reverse bleeders work on some abs systems, not sure about the V. Only other thing you could do to bleed abs is to activate while driving and lock the brakes when coming to a stop, but it wont work if the pedal goes to the floor. And would be very dangerous so advise not trying.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
#5 ·
You need the tech2. Same thing happened to me.
 
#9 ·
+3 on the tech 2. You need the tech 2 to cycle the abs pump while bleeding.

Trick is to never let the master cylinder go dry when removing calipers, should have plugged the lines when you pulled the calipers for 2 weeks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
The gravel road method didn't work for me, the tech 2 cycles the pump correctly and then walks you through the proper procedure and what corner to bleed and when.

Took me two tech2 brake bleed cycles to get the pedal feel correct.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#13 ·
The gravel road method didn't work for me, the tech 2 cycles the pump correctly and then walks you through the proper procedure and what corner to bleed and when.

Took me two tech2 brake bleed cycles to get the pedal feel correct.
Damn, I wish I had a Tech 2 even more now. I was a little disappointed to have to pay a shop to do this, now I'm even more concerned they won't do it well enough lol. Quotes were anywhere from $85-$125 for a regular shop, and my local caddy dealer said "sure, we can, but we've never done it before and you're looking at $200-250"....how confidence inspiring lol
 
#14 ·
Interesting well my buddy has a snap on scanner that he says can activate the abs so we're going to get that done this weekend. Hopefully it works. It's going to be a while until the v is back on the road. She won't be ready for a couple weeks and then I have to wait for all the salt and such to be gone. Good ole jersey winters. I'll keep ya guys posted on if that snap on tool can do it.
 
#15 ·
I need to revive this thread and give some feedback on what I did go get by after my master ran dry. First off, I got a vacuum bleeder and bled the crap out of the system. Once I finally got some pedal, I fired it up with the car still on jackstands and wheels off and put it in drive. Slowly let off the brake and gave it a little gas. Stabillitrak kicked in and started hitting the ABS solenoids since the front tires were not moving. I did this about 3-4 times, then did it a few more with the foot slightly on the brake to simulate a front wheel skid, shut it down, and did a couple more rounds of bleeding. Brakes are fine now. There was no way I was going to slam on the brakes in a gravel road with freshly painted wheels, calipers, and bedding compound on my new EBC pads. My plan was just to bleed enough to get it so I could drive to the dealer, but it feels just fine to my surprise. Your results may vary.
 
#17 ·
Yea I never got around to posting up my results. After bleeding it with the pressure bleeder. I ended up bleeding them the old fashion way with a buddy pushing the brake pedal. After that they were fine I didn't even have to activate abs. So worked out good.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top