 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / December 2004Question about Brakes / Master Cylinder
96 Chevrolet C1500 PU 2 wheel drive power brakes, front disc, rear drum. Hi All! My truck evidently had a caliper get stuck and it quickly wore down the inner brake pad on one wheel. The master cylinder fluid was down to the bottom of the reservoir, so I wondered if I might have gotten some air into it. Anyway, I have replaced the front calipers and pads, and used the gravity method to bleed all four wheels. I inspected the back shoes and wheel cylinders and they are OK. Now I have good brakes again, but the pedal travels half the distance to the floor before the brakes begin to kick in. I think it should have about an inch of travel :-). So, my question is, if air DID get into the master cylinder, would it have travelled to the wheels and now be eliminated by the wheel bleeding, or should I actually bleed it now as part of my brake job? I checked the master cylinder and it is dry (not externally leaking), it doesn't bleed down under pressure, and the system is not losing fluid, so I think the MC is OK. Thanks, Libby Shouldnt the master cylinder be full? maybe thats your problem. or am I misunderstanding? duh. I get it. Dry as in the outside of the MC. Sounds like a rebleed is needed to me and that you correct that air got in. LibbyChantel@netscape.net wrote in news:1103032977.535076.78760 @c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com: > 96 Chevrolet C1500 PU 2 wheel drive power brakes, front disc, rear > drum. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Thanks, > Libby May have sucked some air into the MC, a MC bleed followed by a wheel bleed wouldn't hurt.  SignatureAnthony You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make better idiots. Remove sp to reply via email >So, my question is, if air DID get into the master cylinder, would it >have travelled to the wheels and now be eliminated by the wheel >bleeding, or should I actually bleed it now as part of my brake job? I >checked the master cylinder and it is dry (not externally leaking), it >doesn't bleed down under pressure, and the system is not losing fluid, >so I think the MC is OK. Gravity bleed often times isn't good enough to get the bubbles out. Bleed the brakes the regular way and make sure the back ones are adjusted correctly. If you dont have a helper you can get a one man bleeding kit for around $5 at the parts store. Steve B. I don't have a helper so tell me more about this one man bleeding kit. All I could find was a plastic Mity-Vac for $30.00. They also had a kit that included a hose and a bottle to catch the fluid, but you would still need a pedal pumper or some way to push / suck the air bubbles out. I looked at O'Reilly's and Auto Zone. > >So, my question is, if air DID get into the master cylinder, would it > >have travelled to the wheels and now be eliminated by the wheel [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Steve B. > I don't have a helper so tell me more about this one man bleeding kit. > All I could find was a plastic Mity-Vac for $30.00. They also had a kit > that included a hose and a bottle to catch the fluid, but you would > still need a pedal pumper or some way to push / suck the air bubbles > out. I looked at O'Reilly's and Auto Zone. The second one sounds like it. Just a hose that clamps onto the brake bleeder screw, the other end in the jar. A check valve at the jar end keeps air from going back up the hose. Attach the hose, open the bleeder screw a bit, and start pumping. After a few strokes, or 5, or 6... tighten the bleeder, pop off the hose, and you're done (or move to the next wheel). Don't forget to check and top-up the master cylinder while you're doing this, otherwise you'll suck in more air, and have to start all over again. Do I need to bleed the MC first or will any air that is in it get pushed out to the wheels? It is full of fluid. >Do I need to bleed the MC first or will any air that is in it get >pushed out to the wheels? It is full of fluid. Some ABS vehicles have special bleeding procedures if you get air in the master cylinder. I don't know if yours does or not. If I were doing this I would probably do a thourough bleed of the four corners and see what you get. Steve B. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.