The brake pedal is really mushy. Ive tried bleeding the line and all that comes out is fluid but it never retains pressure it seems like. The Emergency parking brake light is also on even though the handle is not pulled. What do I need to look for or do at this point?
When you bleed the brakes system you must start at the wheel that is furthest away from the master cylinder ,and work to the nearest to make sure that you remove all the air out of the system . I hope this helps you .
There is a procedure to bleed the brakes so that the brake pressures are equal between the front and rear systems. You must maintain pressure on the brake system to get all the air out of the lines. If you are using a helper, make sure they pump the brakes, then keep pressure on the pedal all the say to the floor as you open the bleeder. They are to maintain that pressure on the brake pedal until you close the bleeder and tell them to pump up more pressure. Repeat.
If your brake light is on it either means A) you have the parking brake engaged B) you lost pressure in your brake system. If you bleed your brakes (assuming that you use the correct method) and just fluid comes out, then you have to look for a leak somewhere else in the system. It could be in one of the lines, it could be a coupling, it could come from reassembling the brakes incorrectly, it could mean that one of the bleeders isn't tight enough, it could even be that master cylinder is bad and doesn't produce pressure. You have to check everything and look thoroughly, take nothing for granted and recheck your work. Make sure that there's enough fluid in the master cylinder because not enough fluid will also make the brake light turn on.
