No brakes!

[6SENSE]

Initial problem was no brakes at all, had to stop with emergency brake. Pedal went all the way to floor. First thing I cheked was fluid level. It was basicaly empty, in one side of the reservoir. Put fluid in and pumped brakes. Found obvious leak from LR wheel cylinder. Replaced it and started bleeding. Took forever; there was so much air in there. Wanted to proceed to bleeding front but bleeder fitting on R caliper was broken off, so stopped there.
Results as far as brake performance, other than the leaking wheel cylinder, are the same. Pedal to the floor and not able to brake. Dash brake light stays on, although after pumping a ton of times it would go out. But eventually come back on. It APPEARS that fluid is now holding, as the reservoir stayed full after all the pumping and trying to drive. I am thinking front brakes also have a ton of air in them and need bleeding? Possibly excessive wear of pads and rotors? (havent taken off front wheels yet). Maybe the back still needs bleeding too???
Any advice or insight will be much appreciated, as soon as possible, as I will be back on it in the morning (unfortuneately). This is on a '86 Grand Prix with vaccum brakes. It is not my car and as far as I know probably has not been right for quite sometime. Obviously there were multiple brake problems other than the wheel cyl I replaced today. I was thinking that it should have had some braking power to begin with from the front even with the leaking rear cylinder.

 

[Red Regal T]

You mentioned a bleeder valve broken off one of the front calipers. How can you bleed it with no bleeder valve. Your problem is that the brakes are not bled. If you can't replace the broken bleeder, you'll have to replace the caliper. They are very inexpensive.

 

[6SENSE]

Originally posted by Red Regal T
You mentioned a bleeder valve broken off one of the front calipers. How can you bleed it with no bleeder valve. Your problem is that the brakes are not bled. If you can't replace the broken bleeder, you'll have to replace the caliper. They are very inexpensive.

I bled the back breaks and when getting to the front did not proceed with them because of the broken valve. You CAN bleed either the front or rear seperately, correct? Or are you implying that I need to fix the caliper and then start the bleeding process all over again from the rear (rear passenger).
I am hoping your right though, John. Id rather it just be a bleeding issue.

 

[Red Regal T]

What I'm saying is, maybe your problem is in the front. If you have air in your system, either front or rear, you're not going to have much of a pedal. Calipers only cost about $10 or $12 for G bodies. When I bleed my brakes, I do it myself. I run a piece of vacuum hose from the bleeder valve nipple into a bottle of brake fluid with the end of the hose submerged in the fluid. Make sure you start out with a full master cylinder. Pump brake for each wheel 5 to 10 times working your way up towards the master cylinder.