Symptom: Brakes do not have much stopping power, no leaks in system, I bought the car over two years ago and have not done any work on them until now:

I have the 1994 Service manual and I am planning on replacing the rear rotors/pads, front pads (not sure of rotors yet), rear hubs (not related but it is needed).

Here is the question: I have bled brakes before and have a bleeding kit which helps. I have never bled a prime pipe from the master as stated in the manual. Is this needed? I suspect some contaminants in the lines and have heard some people claim great results from this.

Any advice on bleeding/fixing brakes?

As always, thanks for any help. This forum has allowed me to continue to complete repairs successfully and I believe more thorough than the slealerships or repair shops.

 

If the car has decent miles on it I suggest doing front pads, rotors and calipers as well as lines around and then flushing the system with new fluid.
When I flushed my brake system I simply attached a rubber tube to the bleeder, with one end imersed in a container of brake fluid, and then I cracked the bleeder and pumped the pedal, while monitoring MC fluid level, until the fluid flowed out clear and clean.

 

also, what about the bleeder valve located in the back of the system in the storage area?

 

Check for cracks in your booster too.

 

I'll second that... and does the brake pedal give way when the car is not running? Even if it goes down slowly, it could mean a damaged diaphram in the brake booster.

I've had good luck with a vacuum bleeder setup, as well. You connect it to bleeder valves at each wheel and it creates a vaccum to pull the fluid out.

 

That's for the ABS pump and unless there is a problem with your ABS, there is no need to bleed anything back there. Each time you start the engine and drive forward through 3-4 MPH, the system does a self-test and a small amount of fluid is moved through the pump. The lines from the M/C go to the ABS first so there is fluid flowing everytime.

You won't need to bleed the master cylinder unless you let the M/C run out of fluid when you are bleeding the lines. When a new master cylinder is installed in the car, a "bench bleed" is done first and that is where a prime pipe comes in.

One other thing you may want to do is to replace the flexible brake lines that attach at the calipers. If yours are original, that makes them 15 years old. The rubber can soften and the internal line can expand with line pressure and the brakes will not work as well. You should have a line wrench to remove the line from the hard steel line at the frame rail. Go to Sears for one in the proper size; should be $3-$5.

A complete fluid flush will take about a quart to do. I would just suck out the old fluid from the M/C reservoir (leaving the holes at the bottom covered), fill with fresh fluid, bleed each caliper in the proper sequence until clear fluid comes out. I have Speed Bleeders on both my cars and it makes bleeding a one-person job that can be done in just a few minutes.

For street use, a good quality DOT3 fluid is all you need. Castrol LMA works fine as does the Ford MotorSports HD fluid. It's at the high end of wet boiling points for a DOT3 fluid. Any Ford dealer will have it and it comes in small 1/2 pint bottles so you won't have to leave a quart jug open and used.

When you remove the caliper abutment bracket to replace the rotors, you don't need to replace the large bolts. Clean the bolt threads on a wire wheel and chase the female threads. Apply some Loctite Blue threadlocker and torque to spec. Don't use the red Loctite as it requires heat to break a bolt loose.