Brakes

**kenro23** · 12-09-2011, 01:27 PM

Pads are good, just bleed all for wheels last weekend, brakes still squishy. What else?

**pajeff02** · 12-09-2011, 01:37 PM

According to cpop98ws6, changing out to braided lines made a difference in his braking. We were just discussing this in another thread as my brakes are not doing to well these days.

**kenro23** · 12-09-2011, 05:40 PM

Here is another part of the story I should have mentioned. While painting my calipers I took the rear passenger caliper completely off and me and the guy helping me did not keep an eye on the reservoir and ran it dry (I think). I had to fill it up completely. Could something deeper be wrong.

**pajeff02** · 12-09-2011, 05:42 PM

How did you bleed it, vacuum pump or manually by pumping the brakes?

**kenro23** · 12-09-2011, 06:20 PM

Manually

**pajeff02** · 12-09-2011, 06:28 PM

A dry master cylinder needs to be "bench bled" before the brakes are bled. Go get a $30 Mighty-Vac from the parts store and give it another go. That should work to draw any remaining air out of the master and lines.

**c5z28** · 12-09-2011, 06:54 PM

^ yep air in the lines. Don't let that get in your abs block.

**kenro23** · 12-09-2011, 06:59 PM

When i let the reservoir get empty was about 4 months ago. Could something be really messed up or just air in the system somewhere? How does this vac thing work?

**pajeff02** · 12-10-2011, 04:04 AM

You attach a hose or special adapter to the bleeder at the wheel. Pump up the vacuum and then crack the bleeder with a wrench. The vacuum will draw fluid and air through the lines and should evacuate any residual air. Close the bleeder just before the vacuum falls below 5 psi, or if you have a helper holding the hose you can pump the Mighty-Vac. Just don't suck the reservoir dry again.

As stated above, the ABS block can be an issue and from what I have heard there is a procedure for bleeding it utilizing a Tech II (dealership scan tool).

**kenro23** · 12-10-2011, 07:32 AM

The guy who helped me bleed them also said he heard about that.

If t is air in the ABS block, is that tough to do at the house or just take it in and have someone do it?

**cammed goat** · 12-10-2011, 09:37 AM

I am assuming the ABS block is electronic? If so, then take it to the dealer as Jeff stated. You DON'T need anything else going wrong. Better to be safe than sorry.

**kenro23** · 12-10-2011, 09:39 AM

Any idea of the price it will cost at the dealer?

**cammed goat** · 12-10-2011, 09:52 AM

I have no idea. Most likely will be the diagnostic cost and labor cost combined. Make some calls to find out what the dealer rates are in your area.

**kenro23** · 12-10-2011, 10:18 AM

So i should pretty much take it in for sure jsut in case that what it is. May have to wait a week till i get paid for that.

**cammed goat** · 12-10-2011, 10:29 AM

Yeah. I would wait. The Tech 2 scanner is only at dealerships unless you know someone who has one. Take it in and at least have the car looked at to see what the culprit really is. At least the dealer can tell you what is wrong. And what YOU can fix or cannot fix.

**pajeff02** · 12-10-2011, 10:49 AM

I'm not exactly sure how it works, just something I have heard on the Board before. Looking into it a bit more I found this on the intrawebs:

The Tech II bleed is an AUTOMATED bleed process. The manual instructs you to pressurize the system to 30 psi (via Motive pressure bleeder or similar) before you start the process. Once that is done and you start the process via the Tech II, it will tell you to open X bleeder screw where X is whichever wheel it tells you. It then cycles the solenoids and pump in the ABS block to bleed the block and that particular wheel circuit at the same time. Once that completes, it will tell you to close that bleeder screw and move on to another one. You do that until all 4 wheels are bled.

**cammed goat** · 12-10-2011, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by pajeff02

I'm not exactly sure how it works, just something I have heard on the Board before. Looking into it a bit more I found this on the intrawebs:

The Tech II bleed is an AUTOMATED bleed process. The manual instructs you to pressurize the system to 30 psi (via Motive pressure bleeder or similar) before you start the process. Once that is done and you start the process via the Tech II, it will tell you to open X bleeder screw where X is whichever wheel it tells you. It then cycles the solenoids and pump in the ABS block to bleed the block and that particular wheel circuit at the same time. Once that completes, it will tell you to close that bleeder screw and move on to another one. You do that until all 4 wheels are bled.

I like how that works. Cuts down on bleeding time as you will be told which axle to bleed. It's a PITA when you're doing it blind.

**0rion** · 12-10-2011, 03:52 PM

before I did all that I would give bleeding them another shot.....sounds to me like you didn't get all the air out of the lines. Keep topping it off and start furthest away from the master cylinder and work towards it so PR-DR-PF-DF. Also, like someone else mentioned I believe, get some clear tubing and stick it into a jar. That way you can watch the bubbles go down the line. I bought a cheap one man bleeder that really sucks but it came with a small jar and the clear line so I still use it to watch bubbles. If you can rent a vac. bleeder that would be nice.....they make it way faster.

**kenro23** · 12-10-2011, 03:57 PM

I did it with a one man the first time. Had a lot of bubbles on front passenger. A little in the rest. Is the ABS thing yall talk about right below the reservoir? If that has air what does that mean for everything?

**kenro23** · 12-12-2011, 02:23 PM

Update: called one of the local dealerships and they had no clue what a tech 2 was. Called a guy that has a garage by my house who I know owns a camaro just a v6, he says he has what i need. Go there and he plugs a snap on in and it tells him i need to pressure bleed them with 30psi. He says he isnt gonna do that cause no way it wont blow the seals.

He then calls his boy who works at a shop twice a week. This guy once worked for GM before he was made to medically retire. He has a tech 2 and says that will show him way more of the issue than a snap on. I am definetely taking it to him this week. Just wanted to know further opinions.