CK5
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Brake light stays on...? why?
- Thread starter dasanii19
- Start date
The light in the dash will come one if the e-brake is on or if there is a failure somewhere in the hydraulic brake system. Start with checking the fluid level in the MC.
Well the fluid is fine from what I can see. One thing I do notice is that the brake pedal goes pretty far towards the floor board before it starts to slow the truck down. Maybe the brakes arent bled? woud that have anything to do with the brake light being on?
Most definately, now go bleed your brakes. The only reason they would need bleeding though is if you have been into them for some reason and didn't bleed all the air out or if you have a leak somewhere or the MC is bad.
dasanii19 said:
After you bleed them check the Proportionning valve, it might need to be reset, that also will keep the light on, I had that in my 73 for a long time before I learned how it works.
hunterguy86
1/2 ton status
I had that problem in my 86 k5 after I had a brake line ripped off. I repaired the line and bled all the brakes. I still had the light at the dash. All I had to do was reset the proportioning valve. This is located on the back of the front cross member usually. There is a button on the left side of the prop valve that you can press. Push that button and should be problem solved.
imiceman44 said:...the Proportionning valve, it might need to be reset, ...
What you talking about Willis???? Please expand on this.. What do you mean "reset" the valve?
I don't think you mean hitting it with a BFH...I've tried that and my brakes still don't work
I just did an axle swap, bled the brakes and cannot get brake pressure. It sounded like large amounts of air got into the lines and up into the proportioning valve when the front lines were open during the swap and braided line replacement.
AZ79K5Project said:What you talking about Willis???? Please expand on this.. What do you mean "reset" the valve?
I don't think you mean hitting it with a BFH...I've tried that and my brakes still don't work
I just did an axle swap, bled the brakes and cannot get brake pressure. It sounded like large amounts of air got into the lines and up into the proportioning valve when the front lines were open during the swap and braided line replacement.
There is a small button, if you want, it's actually the rod for the valve itself, it sticks out at the end of the module and you push it back in with your FINGER.
If you have a lot of air, in the system, you might need to check it often and reset it until you are done.
That generally works unless you mess up and let the MC go too low and introduce air from the top....dasanii19 said:
I think that happened to me when I had the front lifted pretty high during the latest work.When bleeding, start with the right rear, left rear, then right front and then left front. I bought one of those $20.00 hand vacuume pumps a few years back and did a one man brake bleed everytime I've done brakes. It's also not too bad of a way to flush the system.
I'm making a one man bleed pressure system with a tank sprayer and fittings. There are a lot of write-ups on Google and here with different creations.
AZ79K5Project said:That generally works unless you mess up and let the MC go too low and introduce air from the top....
When bleeding, start with the right rear, left rear, then right front and then left front. I bought one of those $20.00 hand vacuume pumps a few years back and did a one man brake bleed everytime I've done brakes. It's also not too bad of a way to flush the system.
I'm making a one man bleed pressure system with a tank sprayer and fittings. There are a lot of write-ups on Google and here with different creations.
The best way I found was gravity bleed.
I use a clear hose on all the nipples and I open them all up, and put the hose ends in a can to recover the fluid (easier than cleaning it off the ground.
Sometimes it take a push of the pedal to start the fluid going.
This way I found doesn't trigger the valve, it clears all the air and doesn't foam the fluid so you don't get air after a day.
And keeps you calipers clean.
You look at the hose and you can tell when there is no more bubles coming out then you can start closing them starting from the back working your way to the front.
AZ79K5Project said:
I could have swore that the rear driver is the farthest from the master cylinder, The main line goes down the passenger side and then hits the rear axle splitter, the longer line off of the rear splitter is the farthest from the master which is driver side.
onetonbb74 said:
If you do rear first either side will be the same, the split is on the center at the diff.
Gravity Assist
I made a pressure bleeder. Cost was about $20.00. I use the compressor set to about 5 to 10 PSI. I got constant pressure at all four wheels and was done in about 10 or 15 minutes from the time I bolted the new MC on.
I added a valve stem to remove excess air from the line.
Loaded the tank with a bottle of brake fluid - MC never goes dry.
UPDATE: I replaced the 16 gauge top plate with 3/16" inch metal with a rubber tool drawer liner as a gasket. I was getting too much leakage with 16 gauge metal.
I made a pressure bleeder. Cost was about $20.00. I use the compressor set to about 5 to 10 PSI. I got constant pressure at all four wheels and was done in about 10 or 15 minutes from the time I bolted the new MC on.
I added a valve stem to remove excess air from the line.
Loaded the tank with a bottle of brake fluid - MC never goes dry.
UPDATE: I replaced the 16 gauge top plate with 3/16" inch metal with a rubber tool drawer liner as a gasket. I was getting too much leakage with 16 gauge metal.
Last edited:
Thunder
3/4 ton status
Your master cylinder may be going bad. That will also set off the brake light.If you have not opened up the brake system without bleeding it and dont have any leaks. And your brake pedal has got worse and goes down further and further over time it could be the master cylinder.
88-383 said:
You may already be doing this...Take the top off from the brake fluid bottle and place the brake fluid bottle upside down over the resevoir that is being drained. It will autofill the resevoir as you bleed the brakes.
I picked up a suction bleeder from Harbor Freight that had the refill bottle for that purpose. The worked for 5 minutes and broke around the air hose fitting.
Harbor Freight Bleeder
