brake troubles, and more brake troubles

[Tanner]

on my 1996 chevy k1500 Iv always had since I bought the truck. the brakes work but they are just spongy. today took some time to look closer at the brake pedal itself since I have never really done that and relized that there is almost 2 inches of play in the pedal before you feel it hit the master cylinder is that normal? I dont think it is.when the truck is off the pedal is rock hard im guessing because there is no boost helping. the rod moves soon as you move the pedal but it doesnt hit the cylinder untill the 2 inches later :(. here is what i have done to the brakes

bled them a billion times
new pads
new calipers
new wheel cylinders
new shoes
new master cylinder
new fluid

is there a way to adjust that rod?? has anyone heard of this problem>? i cant even find it on google :unsure:

Topic

[Joe]

yea this is on a ford, but yours won’t be much different if at all.

[Tanner]

thanks for the info. unfortunatley I dont think that it is adjustable. I took the master cylinder off and it didnt look like it could be adjusted but I didnt try real hard either so I could be wrong.

today I decided while i the help of my dad to try bleeding it all again. we bled all four tires in order. then i took it and used the abs and bled them again afterward. the brakes felt better but not great and by the time i got home they were back to how they were :(.

this evening I went to town and just for fun I decided to take the ABS fuse out. that seemed to make a big difference in pedal travel and brake grab. so I went and talked to my cousins shop to see about haveing them bleed it with the scan tool. they said that it would be about an hour labor and whatever material they used so around $75. if i am going to go this route though I want to make sure that that is the problem or that it will atleast help. what are your thoughts

[Austin]

1. Brake pedal is hard with car off, because your brake booster runs on engine vacuum. No vacuum, no brake booster.

2. Anytime you open a brake line it is possible to get air inside the abs. As you know, abs can only be bled with a scan tool and even at that it can be a massive PITA.

3. When you say “hitting the master cyl.” do you mean before you feel pressure in the pedal? Or before the pin is actually pushing against the master cyl? If it’s just before you feel pressure, I would bleed the abs. If you’re moving the pedal and and the shaft isn’t making contact with the master cyl. then I would assume a mechanical problem.

[Alex]

The way that I did it on my old K1500 was to completely bypass the abs and use a aftermarket proportioning valve.

[Tanner]

sorry its been a while since I logged on. I have been busy with work and trying to get things lined out for school plus I recently got engaged to the girl of my dreams so we have been getting that stuff figured out. anyway I talked to my cousin in town and he took my truck for a drive. he thought it felt like the rear brakes just needed adjusted. So i took a look at them and they are tight but not as tight as he described they should be. funny thing is I had a chain store shop adjust them not to long ago and they charged me a 12 pack of mountain dew. I adjusted the brakes tighter untill i had a slightly difficult time getting the drums back on and it fixed the whole problem they work great now! 🙂 thanks for the help though I greatly appreciate it.

[Author]

Replies