z32 MC Problem

[tdawg88]

Ok I have a weird problem that I have never really ran into before and in my searches I ran across nothing similar. Anyhow, I changed my front and rear brakes to z32 brakes and used z32 lines. I had done the rears first and all was going well the car was functioning (braking) fine. When I changed the fronts however, I had a hard time bleeding the brakes.

What I ran into was the following:

Pumping the break, one can feel that there is pressure or firmness as air is pushed out from the line. So we bleed and bleed all four sides and well seems like all is going well. Once we stop, we notice that the fluid does not stay low i.e. when pumping the fluid gets a bit low and figure once done bleeding should stay at that level (well!) it just fills itself again. So we re-bleed the car and come to the same place. The fluid level goes up on its own. So kind of like all the air doesnt leave the lines and so creates a vaccuum that sends the fluid back to the MC or reservoir.

So....., I was told it could be my MC. I had not yet done the z32 MC change because I read that the one off an Auto 240sx should work just fine. I think I read that wrong but in either case I decided to change the MC. So I got a used one off the z i had a few months ago. I installed it, and followed the import nut directions of adding the extra tip. Re-filled it with fluid, bled the brakes, and SAME problem happening.

Is there a trick to this? Am I missing something here? is this MC also bad? No leaks anywhere (lines), but Im wondering what could be the problem. Anyonwe encountered this? If so, please inform me on how you got past this problem. Thank You.

-Tdawg:duh:

[tdawg88]

Update Question,

Is it detrimental for the calipers to be installed with the bleed valve on the top? i.e. are they Left/Right specific? Coz I figure if that was the case wouldnt the lines not reach or fit? or what not. Anyhow, I read in Nico forums that its important but it was not detailed enough to explain so has anyone else ran into this problem ever?

[drew935]

Wait you read Import Nut's tutorial and you still have questions>? Yes, the bleeder valve on the calipers should be on top and not the bottom. There is a right and left side. :duh: Have you read the FSMs? :hammer:

[SidewaysNJ]

i swapped out my brakes recently....i had a similar problem when i tried using one of those cheap "one man bleeding" hose systems. Not sure what procedure you are using so i'll just brief you on how i did it.

They also say u need to bleed the MC before the actual calipers but i think the MC is bled while the calipers are bled as well.

1) Make sure all lines are tight and bleeders are closed.
2) Fill MC reservoir to the top
3) You want to bleed the calipers that are firthest away to the closet from the MC
(RIGHT REAR, LEFT REAR, RIGHT FRONT THEN LAST LEFT FRONT)
3) This requires 2 people. #1 person needs to place a clear hose over the bleeder. DO NOT OPEN THE BLEEDER YET. #2 person needs to be sitting in the car. Once the clear hose is attached, #2 person can now pump the brake pedal...usually 4-5 pumps or whenever the break pedal starts to get hard. once the brake pedal starts to feel hard, pump the pedal 1 more time and hold the brake pedal down as hard as you can. while the brake pedal is down tell person #1 to open the bleeder and then quickly close it. person #1 should see a bunch of break fluid shoot out into the clear tube. Person #2 should have felt the brake pedal move down when person #1 opened the bleeder valve. Person #2 should NOT let go of the pedal until person #1 confrims the bleeder valve is closed. REPEAT THE PROCEDURE UNTIL THE BRAKE FLUID FLOWS CLEAN THRU THE CLEAR TUBE AND WHEN THERE IS NO MORE AIR BUBBLES FLOWING THRU THE CLEAR TUBE. Once the fluid flows clear and no air bubbles move to the next caliper.
4) Always keep an eye on the brake fluid in the MC reservoir. You should constantly be filling it up. DO NOT ALLOW THE FLUID TO FALL BELOW THE "MIN" LINE ON THE RESERVOIR.
5) Once you do this procudure to all the calipers you should be done. You can repeat the process again just to be sure there is no air in the lines. i did.
all this info is in the FSM as well. Download it, USE IT!!!

[SidewaysNJ]

BTW.....yes the bleeder screws on the 300zx calipers need to be on the top....thats how you destinguish the left from the right side.

Also what do you mean you used z32 lines.......it is NOT recommended and NOT SAFE to use z32 brake lines.....you need to use 240sx to z32 coversion lines. Maybe you need to read that article again. check out the brake section at pdm-racing.com or driftfactory.com or even ebay. buy the proper lines for your car

[tdawg88]

Dammit I feel hella stupid. I didnt notice the importance to that detail but I will Change that.

The write up said that you can use the stock z32 lines if im not mistaken because the 240sx lines dont fit. The write up specifically says NOT to use the 240 lines. However im more than open to that notion and will do more research on it. Sorry but I was not really doing much research outside of Importnut.net write up since a lot of people said its very accurate.

Thanks for the help however I will change the calipers in the morn and will update on wether it helped. Thanks again guys yall the best!!!

-Tdawg

[95Blue240sx]

FYI you can use the stock 240sx lines. The problem you run into is the stock banjo bolt is too long and needs to be granded down to mount flush.

[tdawg88]

Aight bled em and that did the trick... hehe i feel hella dumb but glad theres good folks to knock me back into the right direction.

Now my trouble is the damm z32 wheels are too wide aarrgghh... just a bunch of crap with this car.

I did a little research and found some people say that a 35 is recommended for an s13. Now are we talking millimeters? or is that just a size? Where can I find this so called 35? I bought some cheap ass Pepboys spacers but my wheels still run on my coils so I gotta get wider right now they are 5/16" and not sure what that converts to but yea. I need em thicker than that.

Any ideas? I live in San Jose, Cali so thought id ask thanks

[drew935]

well, you can take a look at my car as I'm in San Jose. I have 16x6.5 et40 with a 20mm adapter spacer on it. It's flush with a 1.2 neg cam in the front and about 1.5 in the rear with a 3 finger gap. How high/low is your car?

[tdawg88]

Aye im free tomorrow for sure man. I hella need help to get rid of the clunking. And could use the advice of someone who knows what they doing. Hit me up: