I give up!!!!

[bmartin9122]

I have to admit defeat. I have been working on my 79's brakes for 3 weeks now. I've replaced the rear cylinders & shoes, front calipers, pads & brakes lines, master cylinder, power brake booster, combination/proportioning valve, and one rigid brake line. I have flushed and bled the system with at least one gallon of brake fluid, and I still have no brakes. The pedal offers no resistance.

So, in the interest of my own personal sanity, I have officially thrown in the towel and sent the truck to my local shop. I guess I'll stick to alternators and water pumps from now on.

[86 GMG]

Bumer I Hate Having To Admite Defeat But I Did The Same This Weekend Stabbing A Distributer Four Stabes And No Start

[Prerunner1982]

i think i am going to do the same and take my control arms to a shop and have them do the bushing and ball joints..

[Metallicamaro]

Bmartin let me know what they had to do, i am having the same damn problem, no leaks anywhere and been through lots of fluid i am not giving up yet!

[bisquik65]

Proportion valve located under the radiator on the front crossmember...Thats bad..common problem...You can take and drive the truck...(in an empry parking lot ) or same area..where you wont hit anything..and "stand on the brakes hard from about a 10mph stop" Like panic break...This will force the air out of the valve..Most of the time,you need a new one..rust will cause it to stick..Hope this helps..Erick

A pressure bleeder will work fine too..

[Metallicamaro]

i have stomped on the brakes a few times going about 10-15 and the fronts lock up, but the rears do nothing but turn. so what i should do is go 10 and stand on the brakes with both feet? lol well not both feet, but try to stop a freight train kinda like? lol.. alright this will force the air out? so i leave the rear bleeders tight or should i crack em'?

[1985K10]

If ya got the time, try opening the rear bleeders, topping of the master with fluid, and let it sit over night. This worked for me on my 85K10, and on my 70 Chevelle...I've also found opening a bleeder, having someone push the pedal down and hold,then closing the bleeder works too.

One more thing.......I also found i didnt bleed my master fully/properly, try bleeding the master in the truck, crack the line(s) coming out of the master loose, i got lots of air out right there, and magically I had a rear brakes!!

[79BIG10]

Good advice mentioned here. The way I got mine to bleed the best was to get a hose on the bleeder screw llead into a cup of fluid. Then crack it open and have someone else press on the brake pedal. While pressing the air would come out and when it stopped I closed the bleeder. The have them let up on the pedal and repeat.

Something else that I didn't realize after replacing the booster was that there is a all thread rod that has alot of adjustment to it. Check the length on it to see if the pedal is not getting the most travel on the booster. Make sure not to unscrew too far as it will come off and you'll have no brakes. Believe me it has happened to me in traffic

[swervin ervin]

All the above very good advice for sure. Sometimes it's a biotch getting the rears bled. Seems it very easy for the fronts I guess because of the distance. Bench bleeding the master is critical. As a side note, like Brandon said, when replacing the booster, make sure you get the rod adjusted out to the same length as the old one was. I swapped out my booster about 3 years ago. I never put 2 and 2 together but never had good brakes after that. I'm dumb sometimes and just don't add things up. After doing my rear disc install I had the same problem. Couldn't get a good pedal. I even went with another new booster thinking the first booster was the fault. Finally, after my brain started working and putting every last piece of the brake system on new I thought of the rod, after exhausting my self trying to get my brakes to work. I made a new piece out of some all thread. I adjusted it out some and now I've got a very nice pedal.

Sometimes, or rather most of the time it's something simple. We as gear heads over think stuff anyway, or I do. I have a hard time of thinking in simple terms. I jump on the hardest thing first it seems like.

[trixter99]

I think your proportioning valve needs to be reset.It is designed to shut flow off to the rear brakes incase you burst a line. Im not really sure how to reset it but it happened to me a few years ago on my 82 4x4 a buddy of mine fixed it.

[bmartin9122]

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Okay, I feel kinda like an idiot. Here are the problems the shop found:

1. The calipers were installed reversed (left/right). This caused a large air bubble to collect in each caliper that could not be removed.

2. The rebuilt master cylinder purchased from O'Reilly Auto Parts was not producing adequate pressure. Apparently, this is common among rebuilt master cylinders. The shop was able to purchase a new one for less than $40.

3. The actuator pin between the power brake booster and the master cylinder was not salvaged from the old booster. I didn't know to salvage this, and the instructions that came with the new one didn't say anything about it.

Two of these problems are due to my inexperience, but I would have never been able to figure out #2 without some fairly specialized equipment. Good luck to all of you with brake problems.

[bisquik65]

You did learn something today..Didn't you? Makes sense...Glad you got it fixed!!!!

[bmartin9122]

Yup. I try to learn one new thing everyday. Geez.... I'm bankrolled for few days now.

BTW, I went ahead and paid them to replace the warped and leaking valve covers. Edelbrock chromies! They were actually cheaper than ACDelco. Too cool.