79 k5 no brakes?

[R3MiX]

my 79 k5 appears to have a brake issue. it requires very little pressure to push the brake pedal down, but the brakes dont 'catch' until the pedal is almost all the way to the floor. And when the brakes do catch, it feels like the front only may be working. There is fluid in the reservoir.

anybody got ideas where to start?

 

[dhcomp]

Look at master cylinder. Leaking fluid out the back? Paint ocming off of things that it would drip onto below M/c?

If not, you need to bleed the brakes. If so, you probably need to replace your master, then bleed brakes.

 

[R3MiX]

bleeding the brakes doesnt involve removing the wheels/tires, does it? and whats the procedure for bleeding them? i dont see any fluid oozing out of anywhere, or paint missing from anything.

 

[dhcomp]

I'd get a good shop manual, and read up on bleeding them. Or go to autozone, register, and look at the free repair guides. Can be done w/o removing the wheels, but you'll need someone to push the pedal for you.

 

[R3MiX]

Thanks for the info, just signed up on auto zone. and will hopefully try this over the weekend

 

[R3MiX]

ok, so, question again. should the brake pedal be depressed or not while im tightening the bleeder screw?

 

[keelue]

ok, so, question again. should the brake pedal be depressed or not while im tightening the bleeder screw?

have your buddy pump the brake, yell hold to your buddy (while he keeps pressure on the brake pedal), crack bleeder, pedal should sink as the air is pushed out, tighten bleeder, yell ok, pump the break, repeat. if no fluid after a few times of doing this check the master cylander and top off. then start again until you get brake fluid coming out. the pedal should be building up by then.

 

[sweetk30]

i do 3-5 pumps and hold and say hold.

then my self or helper cracks bleader. then if pedel drops say floor. or if all air or nothing say pump it up.

then do this till you get somthing. and when all clear / clean fluid go to next till all done.

and always go the the longest run first like right rear / left rear / right front / left front.

let us know how you make out on this .

 

[mattybuilt76]

Im just curious, were the brakes working before or did you just get the thing and find out it has no brakes? Worn pads, shoes, disc's and drums will give you a really low pedal also. It seems to be a very bad habit of non mechanic types or lazy ass cheap people to simply replace pads on the front of our 4x4's and wear the rotors down to nothing, it could very easily be a combination of multiple problems. Rears should be adjusted also if your going to bleed them if you do not know the condition of the shoes.

 

[R3MiX]

had the vehicle for a while, been working on projects as i have the cash for them. the brake issue has always kinda bothered me. I'm not sure what the condition of the pads/shoes are in, 40" tires are slightly heavy . bleeding the brakes helped a bunch. might still have air in the lines, got a whole lot of air shooting out the bleeders at the rear end though, might need to do it again soon.

 

[keelue]

had the vehicle for a while, been working on projects as i have the cash for them. the brake issue has always kinda bothered me. I'm not sure what the condition of the pads/shoes are in, 40" tires are slightly heavy . bleeding the brakes helped a bunch. might still have air in the lines, got a whole lot of air shooting out the bleeders at the rear end though, might need to do it again soon.

keep at the bleeding, i've had to refill the master cylinder a few times before to get all the air out. don't let it run dry or you'll end up sucking more air into the lines. if you don't see improvement i'd then pickup a new master cylinder

 

[R3MiX]

im making progress towards the goal at least. first time around on the right rear i got squirted by high pressure air and brake fluid. not cool.

by the way, it tastes just as bad as it looks/smells.

 

[R3MiX]

and.... now I have a new problem. it wont fire. starter isnt turning. its almost as if its binding up on the flywheel.