Well, I've had it. I hit the end of my rope tonight. I've got all the calipers bleeding via gravity.....nice slow drip, drip, etc., except......

Left front will do same from top bleeder, but totally dry from the two in the middle. I've tried the gravity method....letting it sit for half an hour. I've used my Easy Bleed, (I think that's the name), which uses 20 lb max air pressure from tire, and today a local ex-Volvo mechanic loaned me his $300 vacuu bleeder that he says he used on all his Volvo work in the past.

Nothing.

I even left 20 pounds standing pressure, (from the tire), on the system at the master cylinder fill cap for 15 minutes and nothing. (OK test for the rest of the system I guess)

So unless someone on this forum can see what I've missed, I'm calling FCP Groton Monday and asking for a replacement. It must be blocked internally.

Getting really disgusting. There were no dimple marks on this caliper either; I knew, (and did), check for them to try to tell if they were of mixed, (R/L), assembly. Went through that problem once, which was enough. Wish we had more reliable ReMans......

Thanks Everyone,
Dennis

After this thread devloped, I received a surprise email directly from one of the FCP Groton management folks. He had been looking over these forums on a Sunday, noticed my mention of their name, and wrote to ask how he and they could get things moving for me. By that time I had just concluded I had a defective caliper. I followed his lead and called them Monday morning. They were waiting for my call and got a replacement caliper on it's way to me.

It takes a while to travel across the country, but when it came I installed it immediately and when I again attemped a gravity bleeding, it bled from all three bleeders within seconds.

This is the first time in my life I've had a problem and heard from the supplier before I had the chance to call them. Can't beat that. And, of course, the defective caliper is not the fault of FCP, it the rebuilder.

So all is well. I have brakes again, finally. I don't seem to have quite as full a pedal as I remember, but I might post a separate question about that. Car now stops straight, pedal is firm and no spongy feeling.

Thanks all and FCP,
Dennis in E WA

That's too bad Dennis. I think the round trip to FCP is a long one for you. I've stopped buying reman calipers via internet order, for that reason, mainly, and the hassle of returning cores. With 8 240's, it is easy for me to dig up cores to take with me to the local chain auto parts store, and with my experience gained from them, I can usually eyeball what they hand me over the counter to catch things like poorly formed threads, unfinished bleeder seats, and the dimple thing. The downside is often they only have one in stock at any given store. Another unit is always "next morning" from distribution.

In the other example, I believe the poster did take the time to verify the bleed passage was filled before sending the calipers back for credit. I often wonder if those mistakes reach other retail buyers if returns "look" good enough to restock. It is the sort of information not shared by the industry.

Here's the original thread for those arriving here via search confused about what this one refers to. The topic is caliper replacement on 77 240.

http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1542481/220/240/260/280/77_242_yet_another_brake_bleeding_problemquestion.html
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?

A. All invented by WOMEN!

Well, I'm guessing Dennis is fed up with our attempts to help him so I'll reply to myself with a link to the post I remembered, where the Volvo enthusiast pursued the cause of the caliper problem. Should help if someone else lands here during a search.

http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=1451565&show_all=1
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says "Dam!"

good lookin' out!... I'm sure it will happen again..

Is brake fluid from both lines flowing to the caliper?
Dan

Dan:
Good logic. Yes, last thing I did was loosen each line AT the caliper and brake fluid flowed easily at that point. I also poked the end of a straightened paper clip into the caliper.

The only thing I see is a blocked internal passageway. Or the halves assembled from one-left and one-right half. When I've done gravity bleeding in the past it was always amusing how rapidly the fluid moved through the car and fluid appeared at the rear calipers. If everything is right, there is no reason for fluid movement to be slow.

Dennis

Back it goes.
Dan