156 Brakes...

[martym00se72]

Hi All,
I was attempting to prep my 2004 156 JTS for the upcoming Peter Hall 6hr at Mallala over the weekend - new brake fluid was on the cards. Did the rears fine, just in the middle of doing RHF when the pedal suddenly goes to the floor. Now my recollection is not exact here because I had a bit of WTF going on in my head but there is a chance it was at the time I also noticed I had let the reservoir get very low (idiot move!!) so it is entirely possible that I have sucked air into the ABS. Or the master has died. I had a suggestion to gravity bleed with the front high, back low and crack the LHR bleed screw until a steady stream of drips came to get rid of air but that didn't seem to work. I have a paid up version of AlfaOBD but not the connection cable for ABS. I have also found that 156 brake masters are NLA (another WTF moment considering I replaced the master from my 83 GTV6 a few ears ago with no issues getting a unit - a car 21 years older!).

Anyone got a step by step on removing air from the ABS?

Also step by step on removing the master for a rebuild?

Thanks
Marty

[Citroënbender]

You won't regret buying a pump-up pressure bleeder with the Euro cap fitting. They're cheaper then ever.

[martym00se72]

Got a link?

OK so how do I determine if the issue is dead master cylinder vs air in abs? And will a fancy pressure bleeder fix air in the abs?

[Citroënbender]

T&E's WH505H and SP Tools' 70809 are two name brand offerings, plenty of cheaper to be found. You will push through a lot of fluid, consider capturing it cleanly and allowing to settle for re-use.

Almost certainly your problem is wholly trapped air. With the pressure bleeder, which has one significant headstart in keeping the reservoir charged, you can also crack the in and out pipes of the ABS bloc to purge air a bit faster, if required (but if you use the diagnostics to run the ABS pump it should progressively release any trapped air into the lines for continued bleeding).

[martym00se72]

Pressure bleed fixed it. Once I fixed up the release valve on my cheap arse bleeder.