[Carguy00]

She is 16 and we just got her an 01 Ford ZX2 Escort (cheap). It has very spongy brakes. The pedal goes to about a 1/4 inch from the floor and you can't lock em up if you tried. I checked the front pads are about 75 percent. The caliper slides were frozen up so I replaced both sides. I put in new brake shoes and freed up the adjusters and installed new hardware. I bled all 4 corners of the brakes and pedal remained the same. I put in a new Master cyl and re-bled everything again and pedal is the same. It did seem that the pass side caliper did constantly have tiny tiny bubbles during bleeding no mater how much fluid I pumped through. I'm at a loss on this thing. I see the rear adjusters are adjusting when I had my wife press the pedal with the drums off. The rotors look to be in "decent" shape. You won't get a better pedal by pumping the brakes either. Also no leaks at calipers or wheel cyls or anywhere else for that matter.

 

[Jack Action]

From a 1966 Oldsmobile shop manual, drum brakes diagnosis chart:

SPONGY PEDAL

Possible Causes:

Air in brake system.
Brake fluid contaminated.
Excessively worn or cracked brake drums.

Might be stating the obvious, but did you bled the m/c? Even then, if the m/c is not leveled like on Chevelle, it might be a good idea to raise the rear end when bleeding the brakes, such that the m/c is leveled.

Are the calipers on the proper side? The bleeder has to be on top of the caliper once installed.

Could the rubber hoses be too worn?

I'm just throwing ideas to trigger the thinking process.

 

[Kaizen]

On the drums did you adjust them through the little opening after you had the drum back on? I think backing up sometimes sets this.

Definitely check the fittings on the leg that has little bubbles. Never seen it but could it be sucking in air on the backstroke and not dripping? With the engine running put a vacuum gauge on the hose going to the master cyln to see if you have enough vacuum.

Gotta love teenage cheap cars. bought my kid a durango 600bucks. guy says "needs some work on rear brakes". I take one drum off and all the pieces just fall out on the ground. Take the other one off and the 1 inch bolt everything attaches to is sheard off. So his solution? crimp the line. man that sucked.

 

[Carguy00]

Calipers are on the right side. I did bleed the mc. I rebled the brakes tonight and have no bubbles whatsoever coming out and no change in the padal. The shoes don't use a star wheel like the chevys do they have a flat bar that rachets out. I had my wife step on the pedal with the drums off and they adjusted all the way out. So they seem to work. I spun the drum as she hit the brakes and both sides stopped spinning so they seem to be working. I'm wondering if I should get new calipers, rotors and drums and see if it clears up. Everything I have done so far hasn't changed a thing

 

[Kaizen]

Normally at this point is where I go to the dealer and ask for them to diagnose the solution then I fix it. But as your kid is going to be driving it I'd say to slap those on for what 200 bucks. If not fixed then have a pro look it over.

 

[Big Dre 72]

Have you checked the fluid and made sure its not contaminated with a foreign fluid? You can tell by checking the rubber seal on the master cylinder cap and if it's swollen (doesn't fit properly on the cap), its contaminated.

 

[Carguy00]

Fluid was all good and now has been replaced 4x over through bleeding.