..has always been to have an assistant pump the brakes continously while I open and then close the bleeder valves. I attach a clear rubber tube to the valve and put the other end in a jar of fluid. In this way, so long as the tube is full of fluid, no air gets back into the lines and the brakes can be bled quickly and with a reduced risk of rounding off Toyota's "oops, ah haha, we ah, didn't quite make them 10 mm, ah" bleeder valves.

I've used this on every car I've owned, which is about 5, and its worked fine every time.

But.

My '89 4runner does not seem to appreciate this method. I bled the brakes this way the other day, in order to get rid of the old fluid which was literally brown, and they only got worse, but remained somewhat decent. One of the rear bleeders was clogged, so I replaced it yesterday and bled them again.

Now the brakes go straight to the floor.

I'm thinking that the problem is that I allowed the res level to get waaay too low, or that the new clean fluid is too nice for the old dirty m.c. and caused a seal to die, but all the same, I'm wondering if anyone else uses this method, or used to use it, or has even heard of it. Not sure where I first learned my method, but I don't like the one described in Toyota's manuals.

Like their method for bench bleeding the m.c. (which results in brake fluid everywhere), it just doesn't seem too bright.

 

I have used it many times. It works great. now I have a mighty-vac that allows me to bleed them by myself.

 

Make sure you bleed the LSV on the rear brakes first. The bottle method works great, even with one person.

 

Your method will work, as it has in the past. I doubt your pedal would go completely to the floor if your seals were shot, but more of a soft pedal. I'd grab a buddy and try again. You can do it with one person, but it's always easier with two. You're probably right about letting the fluid go low in the MC resovoir.

Always start with the component furthest away from the MC and work towards the MC in case you didn't know. Also, if you continue to have problems, you may want to put some grease around the threads to the bleeder. Sometimes air will suck past these threads and into your lines. My 2 cents.

 

Yes this method works well in all cases, sorry to here about the "to the floor effect" im certain you have not overlooked the obvious, brake fluid on misc areas where it shouldnt be and other things.

Aaron

 

Yeah, this one is really driving me crazy. I replaced the m.c. today with one from a parts truck that seemed ok.. but the pedal still goes (most of the way) to the floor. I should add that it was the same before, still a brake, but its about 3/4 of an inch long and not nearly enough to stop in a hurry.

Thinking of breaking down and buying the $50 m.c... has anyone used the rebuild kits?

Moral of the story (so far): If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I think these trucks just don't like it when you touch the brakes. At all.

 

I just bled the brakes on my 88 and the pedal goes uncomfortably close to the floor as well. I'm not sure if this is normal for the 88-4R. I'm used to the brakes in my MR2 which are very firm. It's got new pads all around and they are adjusted correctly. Maybe there is still an air bubble somewhere, or I may have a bad MC too.

 

I bled the brakes on my truck again yesterday, using the method described in the BGB (pump and hold) and starting on the proportioning valve. Now my brakes feel fine.

I think that these trucks, for whatever reason (possibly the proportioning valve?) just dont like the pump pump pump method. Or maybe its just very important you bleed the p.v. (or LSV or whatever) first.

 

I think the problem is that the LSV doesn't work properly until it gets some fluid in it, thus preventing the rear brakes from being bled properly. The FSM says to bleed the LSV last, but I had problems doing that.

 

Just wanted to add a little personal experience here. Replaced the leaky LSPV on a '93 4Runner with a non-leaking one from a '94 donor.

I was curious about bleed procedure after swapping the valve -- based upon this thread and my "gut" feeling I opted to bleed the LSPV first, then right rear and finally left rear.

All I can tell you is the pedal is nice and firm and brakes appear to work well. FWIW

 

When I changed a leaky LSPV few years back, I bled by the book, and did not have any problems. I used a Harbor Freight pneumatic bleeder.

The reason I bought the bleeder in the first place was because my 1990 Volvo 240 has 10 bleeders, and my shade tree methods were not working.