110 defender brake bleeding problem

Hi there,

I currently have a defender 110. It has covered nearly 190k miles and the brakes were getting worse and worse so the time came to sort them out. I have replaced both front calipers and pads, the rear flexible hose from the body to the rear axle, new 3 way 't' piece at the rear, new copper brake lines from the 't' piece along the axel to the drums and 2x rear wheel cylinders...

My problem comes when bleeding the bloody things...

I have gone round from the rear n/s brake working back towards the nearest brake when bleeding them and cant get a good pedal. I know its not the front brakes that are casuing me problems as when i clamp off the flexible hose at the rear i get a very good very solid pedal.

When i bleed the rears i get a good pedal for all of around 1-2 pumps and then it seems to draw in air from some where... I have checked all of the flares on the new copper pipes and all of the new unions and all looks exactly as it should. I have even tried replacing the new cylinders with a pair of different branded ones and still no joy.

I have adjusted up the rear drums as best i know how and shortened up the pedal travel after initially bleeding them through but the pedal still seems to fall away...

Very baffling and rather irritating now - any ideas anyone?

I'm not accusing you of being a dumpling, but have you checked unions and stuff?

A wee hole in flexible hoses?

Master cylinder...how old and any leakage?

Any sign of leakage at the caliper?

ez bleed is great btw.

You done the MC test? Checked vac, etc?

Try marking the level of the fluid and see if it goes down.

Did you replace the rear shoes? Did you put them back on the right way?

I adjust the rears by turning the adjuster till it locks, back off, do the other one. Push brakes on and off a couple times to center, adjust again.

I'd start with adjusting the drums again.

Im open to any ideas of suggestion.

As mentioned i know that the fronts are not the problem and the rear flixi hose is now new. If i clamp it any where along the length i get a perfect brake pedal so it is something to do with the rears but i cant put my finger on it.....

I assume it is not the master cylinder due to having a good pedal when the rear flexi is clamped off!?

I would check the wheel cylinders for any sign of leaks or seizing, replace rear shoes, check diameter of the drums and for heavy scoring in case that have just worn out