You said brake shoes rather than pads so I assume they are drum brakes you are having trouble with. Historically some drum brakes are very difficult to bleed but the task is made easier when the brakes are adjusted so hydraulic cylinders are pushed fully in - that means some designs need the adjusters fully releasing or the shoes removing and the pistons retained by a clamp or a hose clip.
Pressure bleeding is best but without the tool it means either bleeding via gravity or back to the pumping which needs technique and feel - sometimes vigorous and sometimes slow but in both cases pausing for a slow count of three at both top and bottom of each stroke is good. The help of an assistant is useful.
In the case of difficulty try pumping the pedal until resistance is felt and keeping your weight on it have the assistant open the bleed nipple and then close it when the fluid flow has stopped - and repeat until there is a good pedal.
When you are certain the brake line has no air in it, if the pedal feel is still unsatisfactory try clamping the flexible hose(s). If the pedal is then ok the trouble remains with the brake but if not the master cylinder must be suspected but before replacement ensure any linkage from the pedal is correctly adjusted and if a brake booster is used that a clearance exists between the booster pushrod and master cylinder piston.
Black sediment in the fluid reservoir indicates the seals are past the best. Sometimes the piston return spring isn't strong enough by design or because of corrosion. Unless the piston returns fully on every stroke you will be wasting time, patience and fluid. A colleague once had trouble bleeding a Simca and they pumped nearly a gallon of fluid through it before they decided they were past caring about seeming foolish and rang the dealer for advice - he was told about the return spring being weak by design and advised to wait 30 minutes between pumps. A couple of hours later there was a good pedal.
SOURCE: brake pedal losses pressure 1 to 2 pumps back to full pressure.
you still air in system or a bad master cylinder or brake booster.
I would first bleed the brakes again -- maybe there is still a small amount of air still in the lines. If this doesn't work and there is no visible leak, I would have to suspect the master cylinder is "leaking by" internally. A new one shouldn't be failing already, but it's happened before.
SOURCE: emergency brake will not work after new shoes have
It sounds like the shoes weren't adjusted correctly or the e-brake cables weren't hooked up right. If you have no tension at all when setting the parking brake, the cables might me off the arm or possibly broken. If there is a little tension when setting the brake try readjusting the shoes.
SOURCE: 99 savana van, with code 171, and 174. System
possible maf sensor dirty or needs to be replaced try cleaning the maf with a brake cleaner also a vacuum leak will cause same problem
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