A60 Actuator wont let me bleed my lines...Help

[dre1965]

This is a long story and I'll try to keep it short and to the point. Awhile back (last year) I was on my way to fill up for a tourney the night before, my brakes heated up and started to smoke. Went home, looked at the caliper and it was froze open, it wouldnt retract. So for a quick fix I disconnected both calipers and rolled brakeless to the tourny about 4 hours later. Had good intentions to get her fixed but I'm still brakless. Went out and bought new pads, new calipers new seals, repacked the bearings. Before putting the calipers and pads back on I wanted to make sure my brakefluid was good so I tried to manually bleed the brakes with the screwdriver thru the little hole trick and NOTHING! So I tried to blow air thru the master cylinder and force fluid out. What came out was contaminted, thick and rust looking, I thought maybe my lines are plugged up. So I just replaced All my brake lines today and tried to manually Stroke the pushrod with the screwdriver again and still nothing, so I disconnected the brake line from the actuator and tried again...no fluid moving. Is my actuator bad? or can it be rebuilt? Any advice would be appericated. BTW its a Triton boat (TR21) and trailer, Checked the UFP website with no help.

[Ntimad8rs]

I had a bit of the same issue when i did mine last year. I had a new one though. To get the bleed started was the hard part. i figured it out by placing my finger over the master cylinder outlet until I felt the liquid pressure and had a solid amount of fluid. But it seems as though you may have a larger issue with rust in the master cylinder now. That has to be flushed out. You may not have the seal anymore from rust and may have to rebuild/repair the master cylinder before you go too far with this. Not wishing any bad luck, just playing devils' advocate. You may be able to just flush out the surface rust that you have in there, but if you have no seal or pumping happening, sorry.

[DABS]

Once your master cylinder had air introduced to it, it may take some doing to get it going. Try putting your finger over the outlet where the brake line screws in to he solenoid. Now use your screwdriver to depress the pushrod and then allow it to return while your finger still covers the fitting. If the brake release lever locks, simply push up on it to allow the pushrod to return. This should suck fluid down into the piston chamber. Now remove your finger and depress the pushrod again and recap it with your finger before letting it retract again. The idea is to push out fluid and any air and then cap it off, allowing only fluid to draw down into the port. Once the piston is primed, hook your brake line back up and LOWER THE NOSE OF THE TRAILER. Now use the brake bleeding method to pump your fluid uphill to the bleeders. Air bubbles will naturally travel up toward the bleeders, now the highest point on the trailer. One other note. Once the master cylinder is primed, you should see a swirling movement in the reservoir when depressing and releasing the pushrod. If there is no swirling, the master cylinder is shot. You can replace it for less than $50.

[dre1965]

Does anyone know how much an new actuator cost?

[Ntimad8rs]

Just looked up where I got my actuator for disc w/selenoid for 200 even. I disassembled and replaced in about 20 minutes.

[Lyn O. Dyer]

Keep in mind when bleeding, the master cylinder must be below the bleed screws in the back, lower your tounge jack and follow the instructions in the manual, you'll need a buddy to help you bleed the system out...
also, make sure the prime the master before installing..here's how...
You do not need to activate the solenoid when priming......Steve, you may want to post this.......PRIMING YOUR MASTER CYLINDER........
Place the master cylinder in a vice so you can see the back of the piston, you can do this with the solenoid attached if you have one , ....fill the reservoir with fluid...stick a phillips screwdriver in the back of the piston....push the piston all the way forward and hold there.....place your index finger tightly over the outlet on the other side of the master cylinder, or solenoid if it is attached......let the piston retract.....watch the fluid level...it should go down...this will tell you the fluid is going into the bore of the master cylinder........repeat the process 2 or 3 times..... now the fluid should squirt out when you push the piston forward ....place a plug into the outlet and reinstall the actuator and bleed the system...

[dre1965]

Ok guys thanks for all the info, Maybe this weekend I will try and take it apart and see whats up in there
Thanks again