FZJ80 brake bleeding hell

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Hey Brian

Just curious, how new is this vehicle to you?

I have driven quite a few 80's and all have a somewhat mushy feel.

Curious if this is an all of a sudden thing or if the rig is new to you and you think they are squishy comparing them to another rig.

Wondering if you are in search of the un-obtainable solid 80 pedal!

 

[Brian894x4]

It's brand new to me....I bought it in Feburary and I'm learning exactly what you said...that the mushy pedal appears to be very common.

However, I've read that it wasn't so when they were brand new, which makes me wonder if all these mushy pedals might just be brake systems that were not bled all the way. Someone correct me if that's not the case.

For example, last night, on the LSPV, Once I thought I finally got all the air out, I go a couple of squirts with no air at all and then all of a sudden air come out. Could it be, that people just stop bleeding as soon they see no more air, while air is still in the system and that's why the mushy pedal? I wonder if air just gets trapped somewhere in the system is just very hard to get out?

As far as my pedal it feels much softer than it did when I first started with the engine on, but I won't know for sure until I actually get it out on the road and test it that way. I do know that it feels much stiffer than before with the engine off...go figure.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

I will follow this thread closely for the results.

I would be very happy to get a nice firm pedal on my 80 as well!

Let us know what happens!

Good luck!

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

The brakes on mine are good and no mushy feel. I've bleed them and went longest to shortest, engine off, pump pedal (but not all the way to the floor), kept resivoir topped (just turn a bottle upside down in the resiv). It went easy.

I also put in Slee stainless lines and have the extra to convert all the rubber lines to ss, so I will do that at some point.

 

[Brian894x4]

Update:

Bleed another 3 quart bottles today. Almost all of it through the LSPV. I checked the other wheels again and they're fine. I was getting a pretty regular stream of air bubbles. Started thinking, maybe they were coming in from somewhere else, but after a few hours, I could go a number of squirts without seeing any, then only very tiny ones now and then...then I ran out of fluid to bleed with, so I had to quit.

Decided to button it all up and test drive. Pedal is very mushy, very long travel and braking power sucks. It's hard to say if it's worse than it was when I started, but it's definately not better, which baffles me considering how much air I bleed out of there.

Did a few panic stops and it feels like it's trying to stop a vehicle twice it's weight. I also couldn't get the ABS to activate, although it was dry pavement.

Next plan of action is to check the pedal adjustment. If that doesn't work, I'll probably drop it off at a dealer and see what they say.

What does an LSVP do when they go bad? I'm wondering how the vehicle would react in braking and if maybe that's part of the problem. Otherwise, I suspect there's still air in the system somewhere. The fact is, I literally bled gallons of brake fluid through that system and was still getting air bubbles, so either something is wrong or Land Cruisers inherantly have a problem of bubbles staying hidden in the system somewhere.

 

[njtaco]

The brakes on mine are good and no mushy feel. I've bleed them and went longest to shortest, engine off, pump pedal (but not all the way to the floor), kept resivoir topped (just turn a bottle upside down in the resiv).

A bit off topic, but I've been working on vehicles for 20 years, in a variety of shops, including dealers, and never saw this done. A great tip...I'll be trying this soon! (60K service)

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

In all my time owner, wrenching and messing with 80's i have never heard of a LSPV going bad.

I am thinking maybe its the master cylinder, but also, dont ever recall one of those being bad either.

I dont know, sorry i cant offer more advice. 80's brakes are notoriously bad even when perfect, maybe you have it as good as you can get it.

Try driving a few other 80's to compare?

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

maybe thru the various methods, you somehow damaged the MC? Or the MC was on the way out and the vacuum machine damaged it?

I think maybe call C-Dan and see what he says, and buy a MC from him if needed.

My brakes engage quickly and predictably, no mushy-ness, firm at hard stops, etc. just normal, good brakes.

njtaco,
It's a trick I learned from a guru that has helped me. He is a Lexus Master Tech- neat trick that makes bleeding easy.

Also, another tip is to replace the bleeder screws with speedbleeders. it makes it a 1 man job and no risk of air bubbles.

 

[Brian894x4]

The dealer will do a powerflush for me tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I've talked to folks over on Mud with the exact same problem and and a powerflush finally solved it.

I've done the leak down pedal test on the master cylinder so I don't think that's the problem, but obviously, if the dealer flushes it all out and it still has problems, then there aren't too many other options left except a bad MS.

I know LCs have problems, but the way it acts now is definately not stock.

If you read road tests when they were brand new, the LC80s stopped 60-0 in 150 feet. The same distance as the 100, so the original brakes were pretty good. I think most LC80 brake issues have to do with air that's left in the system, because they are so hard to bleed out the air, but we'll see.

 

[Mlachica]

Good luck, I hope this solves your problem.

I was intending to flush my brakes again just to be sure I get all the muck out, but after reading this I think I'll let it be for a while.

Let us know...

 

[Brian894x4]

Update:

The dealer power flushed it for me and that apparently did not solve the problem. They then said that they thought the master cylinder to power booster connection needed adjustment, so they removed the MS and adjusted the connection. That actually did make a significant improvement.

The pedal is firmer down low and braking is definately improved, but the travel is still longer than I'm normally used to in other vehicles. The mechanic theorized that it could be the aftermarket front calipers that the PO installed as they appear to use more fluid than normal. He also said it could be the high number of brake hose in the design which allows it to flex. I've heard this over on mud too.

I'm going to try one last thing and check the pedal adjustment. Beyond that, I think it's probably as good as it's going to get, which is at least significantly better than it was. I might someday upgrade to steel braided hoses and try OEM calipers, but after all that bleeding, I'm no mood to open up the brake system anytime soon.

Now, I'm off to mess with my electrical system install my new duel batteries.....