Bled the right rear, OK. Left rear, almost nothing! Reservior still full after pumping the brake pedal! Brake pedal goes all the way to the floor now! ?? Bled many other cars this way and was OK! What happened?

What doesn't the fluid in the reservior make its way down to the rear?

Hmm; I've always used the 2-man system (one pump the pedal and hold pressure while the other turns the bleed screw). Never had a problem on my 91 MB or any of my other cars. now, are you doing it like this:
- helper pumps the pedal 2-3 times, then holds pressure on it.
- You turn the bleeder screw and allow fluid to exit, as the helper lets his foot follow the pedal to the floor.
- Helper holds the pedal on the floor until you retighten the bleeder screw.
- Helper releases the pedal, pumps 2-3 times and you do it all again.
- Check after a few pump/bleed cycles to insure both front and rear fluid reservoirs have fluid.

DG

I got air into the system.

I managed to get clean fluid to all for corners now but now the pedal goes all the way to the floor. Thank you for your suggestion on the bleed procedure. I will try it again later with a second person.

Look very closely at the reservoir, using a bright light. There is an internal divider; the rear brakes are fed by fluid from the rear section of the reservoir. The rear section constitutes only a very small portion of the volume. You have to fill the reservoir almost to the top before fluid spills over the internal divider to fill the rear section. You most likely drained all the fluid from the rear section and drew in air. About 10 pedal stokes is all you can do before it is time to refill. Everyone makes this mistake the first time they work on 124 brakes.

- JimY

Thank you for your suggestion! I will take a look at it!

Thank you S-Class Guru and Jcyuhn!

It was the rear brakes that had the air! Count me in for making that mistake too, Jcyuhn!

My '88 is now with my son, but most cars will show a "bump" in brake lever travel and that's where you should stop when bleeding. Going past that and on to the floor allegedly puts master cylinder in places it doesn't usually go, risking damage to the pistion, o-rings, or whatever.

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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles