My 97 1500 brake story

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N Ga Rider

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The 97 GMC 1500 2wd truck that I have was my Father in law's. He bought it new in 97 and sadly passed away 3 weeks later. My Mother-in-law kept the truck and used it until 2012 when she became ill. The truck was barely used until now and has always been parked under a carport. She gave it to me a few weeks ago. I put a new battery, changed oil and new tires on it and drove it 90 miles home. It drove well shifted great but the brakes needed attention. The truck has 67,161 original miles on it, body and interior are near perfect.

I have replaced everything on the brake system, pads, shoes, master, wheel cylinders and rubber brakes hoses. Im having trouble I believe with air in the Kelsey Hayes ABS. I can't seem to find a scanner to bleed this. I read her about the tech 2 one, but no new units will support the 97. Looking for options on what to do now. I've called the local Chevrolet dealer to see if they could bleed it but they flat refused to look at it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mike
 

letitsnow

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I read somewhere that people have luck with locking up the brakes on a dirt road, which then pushes the air bubbles out of the abs unit - might be worth a try?
 

df2x4

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I've called the local Chevrolet dealer to see if they could bleed it but they flat refused to look at it.

Well that's strange...

A Tech 2 clone will definitely do the ABS bleed on a '97, so will some older Snap-On scanners.
 

N Ga Rider

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Will this tool help? I cannot really figure out where it goes.
 

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Schurkey

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97 GMC 1500

I have replaced everything on the brake system, pads, shoes, master, wheel cylinders and rubber brakes hoses.
Did you bench-bleed the master cylinder before installing? It generally takes more time/effort to properly bench-bleed than most folks expect.

Im having trouble I believe with air in the Kelsey Hayes ABS. I can't seem to find a scanner to bleed this. I read her about the tech 2 one, but no new units will support the 97.
I would not have expected a Tech 2 to have trouble auto-bleeding the ABS on a '97.

My Snap-On Solus Pro with 8.2 software won't auto-bleed my '97 K2500; but the 14.2 software will.

I've called the local Chevrolet dealer to see if they could bleed it but they flat refused to look at it.
Dirtbags. I'd complain to GM and the NHTSA. Probably won't do any good, but it might make you feel better.

My brake pedal is horrible, it is low and does not feel safe.
Assure that the master cylinder is properly bled. Find a compatible scan tool and a gallon of brake fluid, follow GM procedure for bleeding ABS (.pdf attached below.)

Will this tool help? I cannot really figure out where it goes.
You don't need it if you use the "Two Person" bleed procedure in the .pdf below. However, I prefer to use a pressure bleeder set to ~15 psi, and the so-called "Low Pressure" method.

You probably don't need it using the "Low Pressure" bleeding method, either. But if you can't get fluid out of the front calipers, it goes on the combination valve attached to the ABS unit. If you had the older-style EBC4 ABS, you'd maybe need three of those.
 

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bretcopsey

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I replaced rear wheel cylinders and a master cylider on my son’s 96 Sierra. MC was bench bled and followed standard 4 wheel bleed process with pressure bleeder and still had spongy pedal and brake warning light on the dash. Followed the steps in this video and fixed the issue.
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