Trying to diagnose the lack of front brakes.

ATV = 2000 Honda Rancher 4x4 with hydraulic front drum brakes.

Master cylinder is full of DOT 4... handle is soft... like no pressure.
I can pump it several times and get some braking... but not firm. No leaking fluid... MC stays full.

Steps taken so far: Completely bled both sides, thus replacing all the brake fluid with fresh. Removed the drums and cleaned everything up, shoes and drum are good. Pumping the brakes shows all four drum pistons moving slightly. I removed the line off the MC and put a stack of banjo washers through the banjo bolt to seal it off and see if the MC would have pressure on it's own... it was nice and firm.

So... given the above steps... am I correct in assuming one or more of the drum pistons has gone south... therefore, no braking? Any way to figure out if a piston is good or not? Or... was my MC test bogus and it's shot?

Try adjusting the shoes. pull the red plug on the hub to do so.

Thanks SD,

that was it. Been awhile since this post... due to finding the rear axle moving around a bit too much realizing the left rear bearing was GONE... and subsequently had caused all the seals on both sides to be destroyed. :D

so after replacing bearings and seals on the rear... I popped the red plug adjusted each of the four front adjuster wheels one click at a time until the brake handle firmed up.

She stops good now.

btw, for ordering OEM parts and having them delivered quick at a decent price, BIKEBANDIT.COM is awesome. They have diagrams on the website making part ordering pretty easy. All of the parts were HONDA factory sealed parts etc.