I replaced both rear wheel cylinders on my drum brakes over the weekend and lost some fluid. It went down to the level denoted by the red line (I borrowed someone else's pic for reference, my MC is actually still in the car), but it still had some fluid in the two lower "cups" of the MC, just not at the large portion above the red line. Just was concerned if I have to bench bleed, because after I filled up the MC and re-bled at all four locations, it was still squishy, but some improvement. My friend says just keep re-bleeding, there's still some air in it, since I don't have any leaks.

 

I concur with your friend's observation - there's still air in there somewhere. Remember that you have a system that is set-up "RF-LR" and "LF-RR". Start again from the farthest point on each system, bleed and then move to the close wheel. Do one pair entirely, then go to the other pair, and keep a closer check on your fluid level -- you may not have uncovered the pistons, but I cannot guarantee that ...

 

Thanks, I just re-bled again, and there was little improvement, brake pedal not going totally to the floor but still going pretty deep though it's grabbing once it's down there, but it just seems that same spot (LR) is sucking air somewhere even though I replaced the rear cylinder on both sides and verified there are no leaks at the lines. I even tightened the bolt where the line connects to the wheel cylinder to ensure no leaks. I'm beginning to think the master cylinder is suspect. May have to google whether to do a bleed of the MC while it's still on the car, or bench bleed, which I was hoping to avoid. I may try a few more rounds of bleeding at the wheels (this would be around my fourth or fifth time and two 32 oz. canisters of brake fluid), but I'm really thinking my problem is now at the MC.

 

Oh by the way, I bleed using the one-man hand pump, worked well on my pickup and Honda, doesn't seem to be effective with the Saturn? I'll probably get my son to help with the brake pumping and see if that is more effective, which we did before replacing the rear cylinders but it didn't seem to help then. Now that I have new wheel cylinders it may be worth a try doing the two-man method of bleeding again.

 

are the rear drums adjusted properly?

might the excessive pedal travel be related to additional travel of the shoes ?

just throwing it out there