Brake line bleed shortcut that saved me 2 hours on a rusty F-150

Was fighting a rear brake bleed on a 2011 F-150 in Columbus last week and could NOT get pressure no matter how many times I pumped. Tried the two-person method, vacuum kit, even bench bled the master cylinder twice. Then my old tech buddy said to crack the proportioning valve nut just a half turn while bleeding, and it finally pushed fluid through. Why do they never teach that in school, has anyone else run into this on Ford trucks?

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dylan4631d ago

Heard about that trick from a buddy who used to wrench at a Ford dealer back in the day. He said the prop valve can stick on those trucks, especially with years of rust and junk in the fluid. Cracking that nut lets the pressure bypass it, then you gotta bleed the valve itself after. Just make sure you torque that thing back to spec, I've seen guys leave it loose and get a soft pedal for weeks.