Winnibago Brave 1996 brake problems

[johanleroux]

Good morning, I own a Winnibago Brave 1996 with very low mileage. As I Live in South Africa I have nowhere to go for advice or assistance as we have hardly any Winnibagos here and definitely nobody to work on them. I have to order all spares from the USA which normally takes between 6-10 weeks. I have just fitted a new Hydro boost brake cylinder together with a new master cylinder which I got from the USA and did all the installations and fittings strictly according the instructions. I also bled the Hydro boost and master cylinder in the way described to get rid of any and all air in the system. The power steering works perfectly but no matter the times I have bled the brakes in strict order do I get the brake peddle to rise to the top. It comes to the top when pumping the peddle but after a while when I step on the brake peddal it goes down all the way again. The brake light on the dash comes on when I turn on the ignition but does not go of after that not even whilst bleeding or when the bleeding has been completed. There is no sign of any leackage of brake fluid at any of the wheels o
r at the master cylinder or anywhere else. Does somebody have any suggestions. Thank you very much.

[Eagle5]

Hi Johanleroux,
You might try applying vacuum to the brake lines at all four Slave Cylinder bleeder valves, with the cap off of the Master Cylinder. Just do one wheel at a time, and keep plenty of brake fluid in the Master Cylinder so that you don't run dry. Some vehicles just cannot be bled of air by the pumping & venting method.
Welcome to the Forum.
Eagle5

[johanleroux]

Good morning Eagle5,
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my question. I shall definitely try it. Being in Africa without the proper help make things fairly difficult and your advice is appreciated. Have a very good day.
My best,
johan le roux.

[Don G]

It sounds like you still have air in the brake system. You should be able to manually bleed the air out. You need 2 persons to bleed the brakes without a pressure bleeder. With the engine not running pump the brake pedal until the pedal stops rising. Hold pressure on the pedal while the second person opens the bleeder screw and watch for good fluid flow and no spurts of air. Do this for each wheel one at a time. If the brake light does not go off the brake proportioning valve could be sticking and not allowing a proper bleed of all the air. You can look up how to bleed / re-center online. If you have good flow and no air you could have brake shoes way out of adjustment or brake pads sticking / flexing in the front brackets. You need to eliminate air in the system first before moving on.