On a 1982 245, we attempted to change the brake fluid by bleeding the brakes as described in the Bentley manual for 1983-1993 240s (things appeared to be the same as the non-ABS configuration described therein).

However, after opening the bleeder valve of the left rear brake, no brake fluid comes out when the brake pedal is pressed in, and the brake pedal does not go down any further than normal. The right rear brake is the same way. Removing one of the bleeder things verified that it was not clogged. We did jack up the car and spin the rear wheels to see if the rear brakes work when the pedal is pressed (they do).

Is there anything else that needs to be done to bleed the brakes?

Volvo brake calipers must be amazingly forgiving. If a Japanese car has even a hint of moisture or crud in the caliper, the thing freezes solid.

That said, if you had enough crud in your caliper to block a bleed hole, you should really give serious thought to buying caliper rebuild kits and treating those things to a good cleaning next time you touch the brakes.

A similar thing happened on my 81 242. One of the bleeder screws on the right front caliper would not bleed. I took the screw out and it was not clogged. What was clogged was the exit hole in the caliper itself. With the bleeder screw removed, I carefully poked cleaned the hole in the caliper with an appropriately sized wire and cleared out some built-up crud in there. Then an assistant can push on the brake pedal, but not let up until you seal the hole with your finger. Then the assistant lets up on the pedal and you put the good clean bleeder screw back in snug and you should be ready to continue the bleeding process. Good luck.
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Thanks to everyone for the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick On Blocks, stock; 86 240, 129K

TJL,

If you had normal braking before you attempted this, and as you verified the brake still works normal at the position in question, then.... remove the bleeder screw once more and probe inside the caliper hole very gently. I'm guessing that the caliper has not been flushed for some time and the crud that accumulates has settled in that area.

If after probing that port and no fluid shoots out and soaks you, (please wear protective face gear) then move up to where the brake line enters the caliper. Crack the fitting open a little bit, then start the car and press on the brake pedal to see if any fluid seeps out. If your brakes are really working it will seap fluid, then tighten the fitting. Should this be the case, then the brake caliper is plugged up and you may need to take it off to clean or replace it. You can try the probing trick again to see if it will clear the crud, if it does continue bleeding until it is flushed out and clean fluid is verified. Let us know what you find.