I ran into some trouble bleeding my '91 240 brakes. The car has front Girlings and is non-abs. I was unable to bleed the rears using the Motive Products power bleeder. I came back at it today, popped the bleeders and tried cleaning the bleeders and the holes, but nothing worked. Finally, after properly bleeding the fronts and realizing I shouldn't have introduced any air into the system while working on it with 15 psig on it, I had my daughter sit in the driver's seat and we successfully bled the rears the old fashioned way.

The car drives fine now and I'm wondering if this is typical or if my system has a serious problem. Any help is appreciated.

someguyfromMaryland

Maybe your daughter exerted more than 15psi which was needed to clear blockages?
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1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

That is a possibility I hadn't considered, but I'm really not ready to pull the wheels and go back to bleeding again to see if you're right. I'll wait a while and check the next time I need to bleed lines or next year, whichever comes first.

someguy

Well if you really want to know, I'd try and bleed the rears again.

The only other thing I could think of would be a worn soft line that's causing problems... and to check that you'd want to pull off the wheel and take a look-see.

- alex

'85 244 Turbo

"Well if you really want to know, I'd try and bleed the rears again. "
I'm with Someguy on this one. "If it ain't broke, why fix it" vs. "curiosity killed the cat". Now, if we were talking cats and not Volvos ...
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

I'm going to have to agree with Fitz here.

At the very least, a visual inspection of the flexible lines is a good idea. Plus it's easy to do.

Similarly ensuring you can bleed the rear calipers again is also a good idea, and unlikely to damage anything further.

- alex

'85 244 Turbo

This can be a difficult decision. If something doesn't seem right, you're better off checking on it rather than hoping it's O.K.

"If it ain't broke, why fix it"
-becuase it's your brakes and you life depends on them. There's a big difference between 'broke' and 'about-to-break.' If I were to suspect that some major issue might be around the bend, I would definitely reassess the situation until I am either satisfied with the current condition or have determined what needs to be repaired to avoid a catastrophic failure.

"curiosity killed the cat"
-I'm sure that many of us have been frustrated with some small part (while working on our Volvos) to the point that we're ready to kill the car. Also remember the rest of the rhyme, "satisfaction brought it back." A peaceful drive and a confidence in your well maintained car is a wonderful feeling, -rather than wondering if your brakes are about to fail.

As for assessing the current situation, I would try to rule out a failing flexible brake line. I'm assuming that you got the brakes to bleed clear, new, DOT4 fluid from the rear calipers with the help of your daughter. It would be worth your time to jack up the back end and look at the two flexible sections of the brake line where it makes the jump from the underside of the car body to the rear axle (you don't need to remove the rear wheels, but make sure that you support the car with sturdy jackstands). While inspecting the rubber brake lines, look for bulges, cracks, and unusual softness/stiffness especially near the ends where it joins the metal fittings. Gently bend them around a little to see if any problems suddenly appear.

After 14 years of faithful operation, the flexible brake lines on my '86 Pontiac 6000 began to constrict. It got to a point where I could force fluid through the lines by applying the brakes with the pedal, but the fluid would not return on it's own (due to the constricted rubber). This kept the brakes pressurized at about 35% and prevented me from driving (I had to wait about 10 minutes for the pressure to slowly subside before I could move the car). If you are replacing rear brake pads faster than normal, it would be worth your time to check your flexible brake lines.

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 245, NA 225K

Thanks for the concern about my/our safety. FWIW, the rear brakes bled clear using Valvoline Synthetic DOT 4. I am guessing this was the first flush. All lines appear to be in order but you can't tell if they're ballooning on the inside by visual inspection. Given the fact that I got good fluid through the lines with no air bubbles and the lines look ok, I'm going to wait unless I feel anything suspicious.

someguy