Miata brake help. Caliper or brake line?

I'm still trying to sort out the brakes on my '90 Miata. In a nutshell, after replacing the differential, I was all excited for my first test drive. But the left rear caliper froze. Replaced that and went out for a quick test drive (without having the brake properly bled). Within a mile, the left front caliper immediately started to drag.

So I went into the garage and had my wife help me bleed the brakes. The left rear had several bubbles (the side where I had changed the caliper). As soon as we got those out, brake pedal was nice and really firm. Couldn't get the right front bleeder screw to open...crap. Anyhow, got the left front to open. But no fluid came out. Tried closing it and having her pump the pedal...nothing. No matter what I did, nothing would come out. And the wheel won't spin freely, brake is definitely dragging.

Can I guess the brake hose is kinked/gummed up?

I used to have lots of problems with the bleeder's getting clogged with rust when I lived in NY, especially if they didn't still have the little rubber covers on them. You could try taking the screw out all the way and check that it's open. If not, you can drill it out very easily. I'd check this before looking into the hoses.

I dont have any help for you, but I am looking forward to replies. My e28 has a sticking caliper and I haven't yet dived into it. I know for sure that my slide pins are moving freely. You may want to check that first.

Was the car sitting for an extended period?

Your bleeder is packed full of rust. I just went through the same thing with my 96 Miata. Same wheel even.

I'm making brake service a twice yearly thing with this car. The caliper pins can ALWAYS use more grease and the bleeders pack with rust pretty frequently.

So you use a tiny drill bit to clean it out?

The car wasn't sitting too long, about 6 weeks before I bought it.

Sitting doesn't matter. Mine never sits.

I used a pick tool and 100psi of compressed air. I don't see why a small drill bit wouldn't do the same job.

The reason I ask is because it sounds like 2 of the calipers have seized up. Not too unusual for that to be an issue if the car sat a long time. (Unrelated to the bleeders being plugged)

Thanks guys. I don't have an air compressor, that's on my "want" list, so I have to use something else.

Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on with the brakes. Seemed odd to me that one caliper seized right after the other. Trying to figure it out. Good news is that once I had bled that left rear, the pedal really firmed and now feels great.

Is the master cyl allowing the fluid to return ?

Just a thought.

I think so, but not 100% sure, guess I'll have to check. I know it's flowing out from the master, as the fluid level dropped when I bled the one caliper.