Can not bleed brakes
 

Installed new master brake cyl. Unit was primed of air and can not bleed wheel cylinder lines of air . 96 Camry le standard brakes not abs.The front line extends up in the air and maybe the unit can not pump up hill. That sounds a little dumb,but I have never had this problem before. I even tried another new master and still nothing. On bleeding wheels I get zero pressure at wheel. Took master off and repurge with zero air and same thing. I am going bonkers. Maybe I need to vacuum the lines to pull fluid through. Any suggestions at all I would appreciate.

Are you bleeding the longest brake line first which is the rear passengers?

I'm dealing with a similar issue. '96 Camry LE 2.2L.143,000 miles. The rear right wont pass fluid but rear left is good. Brake pedal fades right away.
I was given this car that has been parked since 2006. I've already used a hand vacuum pump all the way around but couldn't get a satisfactory seal on
the bleed valves. At this point I really am hoping it's just a clogged nipple. Getting back out to work on it tomorrow so I'll continue working new fluid thru the
lines and, yes it's old rusty fluid coming out.

Good luck!

Unscrew the bleeding nipple that might be clogged. .

Toyomoho

Hey thanks for your interest.

After responding to the OP's posting I realized that their posting was from 4 months ago.

To clarify I have a 1996 Camry LE sedan w/4cyl A/T 143,000 that has spent the last 16 years sitting, waiting for me to come around and do something about that fact.

That aside, today I went thru all the bleeder valves. Two were good and two were suspect. So after cleaning the two I had the help slowly pump the pedal to the floor and hold WITHOUT the bleeder valves screwed in confirming I had fluid flowing. Bled both again but still with the fade to the floor pedal. So next step was to pull drums and calipers and look for piston movement. I tried pulling the drums but couldn't get anywhere. I did some solid tapping with a hammer around the drum's I.D. as I didn't have my mallet with me and neither one budged. I also didn't locate any possible small bolt holding the drums to the backside like some other manufacturers do. At this point I ran out of daylight so I didn't get to the calipers.

All four of the brake lines at each wheel show no signs of leaking nor after a brief look under the car, anywhere else for that matter. If any of the the wheel cylinders and caliper pistons don't move I think that could be my problem but I have a feeling that there is going to be multiple issues needing to be resolved (hopefully not including the master cylinder) to get the brakes back. One thing to note is while slowly pushing the brake pedal to the floor you can hear a fluttering about 2/3rds thru the pedal travel, like letting air out of a balloon slowly but much quieter. No change to the pedal when engine is running either. Engine idles fine at around 750, 800 rpm and no apparent audible vacuum leaks. Visual inspection around the master cylinder and the "interchange" valve shows no signs of leakage. Booster doesn't go whoosh when stepping on the pedal, engine running or not. When driving you can get some braking in the first half of the brake pedal's travel but only by repeatedly stepping sharply on the pedal resorting in using the emergency brake in combination to slow down enough to hopefully choose you stopping point. . . LOL

This is my first Toyota that I've owned AND worked on (that's another car story from many years ago) so I'm unawares of the known idiosyncrasies that this model has, like if there is a bolt holding the drums to the axles or not. So I am all ears on anyone's input. So far I have changed the oil, oil filter, coolant, transmission fluid/filter and working on the brake fluid presently. I am replacing tires, the alt/water pump belt and the fuel filter as well. Also what's the best way to determine if I have ABS? Dashboard light? Then is there no way to get that damn key in the ignition, etc bell to chill? Even just the 5 dongs it does is a bit much. No stealth here.

Once again thank for your interest in my Camry issues Toyomoho or any other respondents for that matter.

Probably should move this to it's own thread (moderate at your leisure).

Ethan

If ABS, the car would have a brake ABS actuator unit. The unit is in the engine compartment near the windshield wiper fluid fill port and has lots of steel brake lines routed to it.

Toyota uses a special electrical device to bleed the ABS unit by cycling the internal valves. If the car has ABS read up on bleeding before proceeding.

The drums don't have any attachment screws. Have you backed off the shoes from the drum? Try some heat around the drum where it mates to the hub.

Have you tried penetrating fluid in the ign switch. The key barrel comes out but you need to insert and turn the key to be able to start the removal process.