Rear drums not bleeding. Line has no fluid

[RustRatz]

Rear drums won’t bleed, and I unscrewed the brake line and there’s no fluid. Reservoir is full.
1992 Ford Ranger 2.3 5 spd.

 

[snoranger]

First place I’d check is the RABS valve. I’ve had 2 of them screw up and block flow to the rear brakes on different trucks. I replaced 1 and pulled the other one apart, cleaned, and reassembled it.

 

[Uncle Gump]

It's either the RABS or the rear brake hose.

 

[RustRatz]

It's either the RABS or the rear brake hose.

Where is the RABS located?

 

[Uncle Gump]

On the frame rail below the master cylinder. Just follow the rear brake line.

 

[RustRatz]

On the frame rail below the master cylinder. Just follow the rear brake line.

Found it. Should I replace it or figure out how to take it apart and clean it?

 

[snoranger]

Found it. Should I replace it or figure out how to take it apart and clean it?

The choice is yours… the only reason I didn’t replace the 1 is because it was Sunday and I needed the truck for Monday.

 

[Josh B]

It is a total pain to get to, pull the starter and multiple lines.
I'm not certain if I ever even got mine out, just drove it onward through the fog, but that told on me today. Tomorrow I'll have to tear down my rear drums and see what's come loose in there, thankfully I managed to drive it the last 20 miles with no serious incidents, I won't know till I see in what happened, but I am presuming it's something brake related :/

 

[RustRatz]

Replacing it would cost me a minimum of $170, and I don’t exactly want to waste a quarter of my paycheck on something I can rebuild for $20. I do have an old parts truck that I can check to see if it still has it’s RABS.

 

[Uncle Gump]

You could try disconnecting the brake line from the rear hose to see if you get fluid to that point before replacing the RABS valve. If you get fluid there... it's the hose has collapsed.

 

[RustRatz]

You could try disconnecting the brake line from the rear hose to see if you get fluid to that point before replacing the RABS valve. If you get fluid there... it's the hose has collapsed.

will do. Purchased a used RABS for $26 from the local junkyard, looks like it’ll flow fluid

 

[Josh B]

Rattle it around a bit, tap tap tap, whatever, soak it in something, they are bad about stopping up if not maintained
From what I have read on some posts not on this forum they are just as well routed around

 

[RustRatz]

Rattle it around a bit, tap tap tap, whatever, soak it in something, they are bad about stopping up if not maintained
From what I have read on some posts not on this forum they are just as well routed around

I believe the previous owner didn’t take much care of the truck as it had a knocking 2.3 and a huge oil leak when I got it. Had all 5 gears and reverse though.

 

[Josh B]

I believe there is a valve or gateway of sorts inside it that should rattle a bit when shook, maybe, if I am not totally mistaken