Hi everyone,
I was having a problem with a front brake noise. While trying to figure out what was wrong I completely lost a braking ability. I have a 2004 Supercharged XJR. There no leaks, the fluid reservoir is completely full and the brake pedal goes all the way to the floor board when applied. I pumped the brakes and they do not retain any pressure. I nailed it down to the master cylinder, however, I can't figured out how to change it out and bleed the system. I have the JTIS loaded on my computer, but the drawings are all 180 degrees opposite of what is actually on the vehicle. I took the fluid reservoir off, but I don't see how I'm going to reinstall after bench bleeding. It doesn't look as if I can reinstall the master cylinder with the reservoir in place and reconnecting the lines without reintroducing air into the system seems very difficult, given the space limitations. Has anyone with this model done a master cylinder change? Any help would be appreciated.


Thanks

 

Hey Joe. You can't and you shouldn't try.

Proper procedure after replacing the master cylinder is to completely bleed the brake system.

 

Thanks Sean W,
I always planned to do a complete bleed. I was just wondering if it was possible to reinstall the master cylinder with the reservoir in place.


Thanks

 

Thanks Joe. So you were able to remove it with the reservoir in place? I was thinking procedurally and the reservoir is the first thing to come off when replacing the MC.

No help here, sorry.

 

Got rebuilt master cylinder today and plan to install this weekend. The insert that came in the box with the master cylinder, states "DO NOT BENCH BLEED" "Due to original design, this master cylinder must be bled on the vehicle only" Can someone tell me why this is so and provide bleeding instructions on the vehicle.


Thanks

 

Could be bled from the rebuilder, hook up lines, & start at the right rear passenger brake to start the bleeding process.

 

Wingrider, thanks for your response,


I bleed the master cylinder on the car and since I didn't have any help, I may have created a novel way of bleeding. I have brembo brakes and they have two bleeder nipples per caliper. I connected both nipples with clear tubing and a Y-connector and the end of the tubing not connected to the nipples was routed to the master cylinder. Additionally, I placed a bottle filled with brake fluid in the master cylinder, so that as I pumped the brakes the master cylinder would not become empty or too low and introduce air into the system. All I had to do was pump the brakes until I saw a steady flow of brake fluid without any bubbles. Just to make sure I removed any chance of bubbles, I pumped each caliper and additional 50 times after I saw no bubbles. After which I simply closed the bleeder screw and I was done.