I have 2 new front lines, rotors, pads, fluid - the whole deal.

I filled up the reservoir and let the fluid seep down until it became somewhat a stable level. I bled the brakes starting (RR, RL, FR, FL) and went around this pattern about 3 or 4 times until there were no bubbles and the pedal was rock hard. (Used a clear tube submerged in a bottle of brake fluid).

But after starting it up and driving it around it feels as if there's too much play in the brake pedal before it really puts on the brakes.

After some searching/reading, I didn't bleed the master cylinder - which could be the likely culprit? Can this be done after the fact? Or do I have to start from scratch and re-do all the lines again? (There wasn't really any solid info on bleeding the MC)

If that doesn't fix the pedal do I need those special vacuum bleeders?

 

do the master first. then re-do everything again. repeat one more time.

if you did it correctly your brake should feel really firm.

 

I just bled the master cylinder without re-doing everything else and it fixed it.