Brake Light On, Soft Pedal...

[Z Fury]

So my truck (1994 K-Blazer) has been sitting for 13 months, and I just got it running again, but some issues are popping up now that I need to deal with. First and most importantly, my brakes.

My brake pedal has always been soft, but it is now ridiculously soft. As in 3/4-the-way-down-before-the-brakes-work soft. The stopping power doesn't feel horrible (I "drove" it up and down the driveway to get the moving parts going again - 2mph tops), but with so little pedal left, that's definitely an issue. I pulled the fluid cover and the fluid level looks good. I haven't noticed a leak, but over a 13 month period, a very small rust hole in the brake line would be enough to do this I'm thinking.

Anyway, since the brake light is on on the instrument cluster I figure I'll try the jumper trick to read the code (found in this thread) to see what comes up. I'll also inspect the lines for any signs of leaking. Given the very slow speeds I was moving, I have no clue if the fronts are out, the rears are out, or if they are all working as intended.

Is there anything I can do beyond what I listed above? Also, what is the fix for the soft pedal, assuming everything is fine with my braking system? I've always had to go about 1/2 pedal before anything happened, and that is not always a fun way to drive through the snowy months. Any help/advice is appreciated.

 

[Swims350]

first off bleed them, completely with new fluid, old stuff draws moisture and then gets contaminated and ruins things. Bleed until you get new fresh fluid thru everything.

Check th elines for rust, find ANY replace the whole line at LEAST.

Check the wheel cylinders for leaking, jack it up and pull the tire and drum off. Check the calipers too.

As for soft pedal, well the rubber hoses break down and mess up, change all 3 for good insurance, 2 front one rear usually anyways.

Also the abs system, not sure how in depth yours is but on my 88 with rear wheel only it has a dump valve that gets ruined by water in the fluid and then by passes causing the bad/soft pedal all the time. Also imporperly adjusted rear shoes can cause soft pedal.

 

[hiredgun8]

Soft pedal = adjust rear shoes out until it almnost drags on the drum when you put it on. This is where you get your pedal.

 

[Swims350]

yea but ONLY one way you can get soft pedal.

 

[Z Fury]

I just priced up new rubber brake hoses online - those aren't too horrible, so I won't stress changing those if it comes to that. The brake system is about 12K miles old now. It has new rotors, pads, shoes and drums, so I'm thinking this is either a brake booster or brake line issue. As I said, the fluid level is fine and the fluid color is decent. With the fluid being at normal operating level is what has me confused.

I haven't had a chance to climb under the truck yet, so I'll report back after I've done so.

 

[Swims350]

The thing sat for 13 months, that's long enough, bleed the system with fresh fluid period.

new pads, rotors drums has pretty much no effect on the brake pedal firmness, it's more in the hydrualics, basically what I mean is you can put new shoes and drums on something with bad wheel cylinders, and it still doesn't fix the problem when the cylinder is what is bad. Same for calipers.

Both are cheap, order em all online from like rockauto or go to the local parts store.

IMO bleed the whole system, make sure no lines are rusty, adjust the rears properly, and try it, if it still has bad pedal, maybe look into cylinders, calipers and hoses, if none have been changed they can be bad, and over 13 months they can rust out and get stuck, not go out far enough or not go back in.

 

[Z Fury]

I'll bleed them this weekend (hopefully) and report back. I hope that is all it needs - would be a cheap fix for a change. Is the Mighty Vac a worthwhile investment?

 

[Swims350]

they claim it is I never use one. I got one of the hand pumps and never use it either, I just do it the old 2 person way.

 

[Z Fury]

Hopefully I can recruit the g/f to work the pedal then. I've never bled brakes before, but from the youtube videos I've watched, it really doesn't look that hard (as long as you are thorough).

 

[Swims350]

have a helper pump the brake pedal several times or until it feels hard, or gets harder, then have them hold it down(all this doesn't have to be done with it running) then you crack loose the PS rear bleeders, when they feel the pedal stop moving down, they yell, you tighten the bleeder, then repeat.

I usually do each one 5-6 times then move on, but after each one is done or after a few times or getting fluid check the MC level.

Make sure the MC cap is on and the rubber gasket thing the boots are shoved in and not hanging down, also make sure the drums are on and the calipers are on with pads so you don't blow anything out.

Keep bleeding unti no air is in the lines. You can also jump from PS to ds on the back, and keep doing it, then move to the front and start with the ps one and jump back and forth if you want.

You do PS rear, then DS rear, PS front then DS front.