Help - Bleeding Brakes w/Forte Hydroboost MC

[nuhale]

I am in the process of bleeding the brakes. I have forte hydroboost setup with Ford MC. All fittings are tight and getting no pressure on the pedal during bleeding. With my assistant pushing down on the pedal I open the valve and get nothing. I'm wondering if I have a defective unit. Anyone have any thoughts or similar experinces?

Thanks

[Railroad]

Make sure your master cylinder push rod is backing out from the master cylinder completely. If not, it can block the port openings.
If you still do not have a pedal, I would fill the reservoir, and open the passenger rear caliper bleeder and wait. Most systems will gravity bleed. As soon as you see fluid, close the bleeder, refill reservoir and open driver rear bleeder and repeat on the front.
You can, if desired, keep pumping the pedal, slow, full length strokes and have someone open and close the bleeder with each pedal pump. good luck,

[edwardb]

Did you bench bleed the master cylinder? Also, just to confirm, hydroboost has nothing to do with bleeding. As long as the pushrod is the proper length as already mentioned. I had a hydroboost unit from Mike a couple builds ago. The pushrod was not the right length and until I adjusted it, the brakes wouldn't work. It was much too long. His response? You have to adjust to your installation. With no instructions.

[nuhale]

UPDATE: I removed the master cylinder off the hydro and measured the seat of the pushrod. Yes was around .120" too long so will get perfectly seated. I will photograph and draw up the setup so others might find solution in the future. Wish I knew this before I wasted a couple hours and a good amount of DOT 4 fluid.


This is a frustrating process. Should have known I wasn't just gonna be "an hour" to bleed the brakes. I losened the master from the hydro adapter to see if 1/8" space made a diffrent on push rod. Lost whatever min pressure I have. Mike reccomends that I pressure bleed the setup but I'm thinking that wont be the solve.

Did not bench bleed.

I'm lost on this one and may call it today to let my brain catch up.

Thanks for the suggestions-

[nuhale]

I pulled the MC off and adjusted the push rod so that it seats neutral when mounted. How much throw should this see from the rod? I'm only getting a little over 1/2".

[edwardb]

Searched and found this thread on the other forum from several years ago where I had the exact same problem. It's what I mentioned in my earlier post. Definitely something to check. https://www.ffcars.com/threads/bled-brakes-zero-pedal-pressure-help.410697/

[nuhale]

Thanks Paul- this is exacly the issue I'm having. I plan to pull the MC and bench bleed to make sure I get all the air out of the system. Belive the 10 or so deg angle the hydroboost is causing some issue. Based on your thread sounds like a .020" delta between the MC seat and push rod. I don't have the CNC setup and my scotts hotrod reservior only 1oz volume. Going to make a pressure bleeder out of a garden sprayer and some spare parts.

Hoping this should get me on track. What a headache. I'm second guessing this setup.

Again, thanks for your help-

[nuhale]

Update on my hydroboost saga:

After 6 hours too many spent on this system I finally got it figured out.

I spoke with Mike Forte yesterday and he walked me through some of his pointers on installing his hydroboost. Mostly getting the push rod set right and bleeding using pressure bleeing system.

I built a pressure bleader (will add photos later) out of a garden sprayer and some spare parts. I have Scotts hotrods reservior so no cap. I bought a rubber chair leg end that was 1 1/8" ID so was able to get that over and clamped screw drive clamp.

I bench bled the master to get all the air out and adjusted the push rod so it was PERFECT. Got the system put back together and decided to bleed front first. Pressure worked perfectly. Got all the air out then tried to pump brakes. NOTHING. SPONGE.

At this point I was defeated. I was certian defective MC. I messed with the push rod and did a little design of experiment to see if it was that... NOPE. I was throwing in the towel when I decided to pressurize the rear just for yucks. Did that with ease and BOOM... EVERYTHING WORKS!!!

After I did one more bleed on both front and rear to make sure all air out I decided to do a last check to see what happens when I open one of the bleeders to simulate a brake loss situation. Should still have the other side if one is lost right? NOPE. Opened the front bleeder and gave the pedal a push (with a helper) and no rear brakes. Closed the front and did it again with the rear and... no front.

I'm seeing the same issue other member Jimland is having with his setup. I have e-brake so guess I have that in case of emergency.. :(

I just got off the phone with Mike Forte and his is scratching his head. Says they should be separate systems. He is going to call Ford tomorrow and see if he can get this figured out.

Call out to Mike for his help and answering the phone for me on Saturday and Sunday. Great service!

[edwardb]

Glad you got it working. Yes, standard practice for bleeding, regardless of the method, is always farthest to closest. So (assuming LH drive with the MC on the left), right rear, left rear, right front, left front. Going through them a second time in the same order is a good way to check. If done right, shouldn't see any bubbles the second time.

[chrisarella]

Following. I was about to start installing my hydroboost this week. I'm curious, how did you bench bleed the master cylinder?