Soft/spongy brake pedal

[SUBURBAN5]

I've learned to appreciate my shroud. And yeah any job with coolant is messy. I had my rear quick connect leak one time I was like it's not the engine or radiator so just what's in the line.... dont under estimate a suburban I guess... learned my lesson

 

[VIKING_MECHANIC]

Yes that cost me a taillight and almost got the mirror when a lawn trailer hit the truck when we lived at my cousin's in Katy last year.

Katy? No way! That's where I grew up! What part did you live in?

 

[VIKING_MECHANIC]

They don't adjust worth a crap unless you use the park brake regularly.

I actually do use the park brake regularly. Not sure if the cable is the original, but over the last 10 years til now, I've never had an issue with the park brake.

The wheel cylinder CANNOT "blow apart" unless the shoe travel is excessive; and that generally means the shoes aren't adjusting properly.

It didn't "blow apart" in the typical sense, but the leading shoe(that faces the front?) was fairly thin, so I think that allowed the cylinder to over extend and the rubber seal got REALLY hot and melted just enough that when I took it out and turned it on it's side, the spring and everything fell out. Will post a pic of it when I get home.

I got new shoes and hardware. Brake cables are on order. Plan on replacing the shoes and hardware this weekend and see what happens.

 

[VIKING_MECHANIC]

I took the truck to get any ABS codes pulled and nothing came back to relate to this situation:
1. Wheel sensors faulty(already new about this). Replaced them and still skids to a stop. Guess the module has to be reset for it to function?
2. Faulty ground. Not sure if this has been like this since I got the truck, or if I accidentally left something not wired up correctly when I wired the brake controller in. OR I have multiple grounds along the chassis not allowing the ABS not to function.

Another Idea the shop gave me is the brake booster is on it's way out the door, but I don't hear hissing nor is the pedal really hard.

I'm going to replace the rear shoes and hardware, and adjust them once I get my brake cable in.

Probably going to replace my ABS module and see what happens.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Katy? No way! That's where I grew up! What part did you live in?

We were just there for 6 months, but I got to know that area fairly well. Where my cousin and his wife live is south of 10 between westgreen and Mason. Not quite as fancy as Kelliwood or Cinco Ranch but a nice neighborhood. And plenty of great restaurants in the area. He's a fleet mechanic for a city on the sw side of Houston. Both their sons went to Katy Taylor high school.

 

[VIKING_MECHANIC]

We were just there for 6 months, but I got to know that area fairly well. Where my cousin and his wife live is south of 10 between westgreen and Mason. Not quite as fancy as Kelliwood or Cinco Ranch but a nice neighborhood. And plenty of great restaurants in the area. He's a fleet mechanic for a city on the sw side of Houston. Both their sons went to Katy Taylor high school.

I grew up north of I-10 near Katy Jr. High. In fact, I lived a 20 minute walk from the school.

 

[VIKING_MECHANIC]

Well I replaced the shoes and hardware on both sides, the pedal is better, but still going about 1/2 it's travel. Feels better than before, but still not as firm as it should be.

 

[Pinger]

I had similar after working on the front calipers (even though I didn't break into the hydraulics other than bleed them). Came alright on it's own - but I did do the bleed thing on the side of the ABS module. Not as per the video as there was no one here to press the pedal - just popped it open and released it when a spurt of fluid appeared.
I've only recently got rid of that last bit of sponginess since bleeding the rears. Bleeding both fronts and rears I found that they will gravity bleed - but the rears (empty lines after pipe replacement) needed a couple of shoves on the pedal to initiate. Still bled them on the pedal with a 'one-man' kit but they were still issuing fluid as I tightened the bleed valves.

Re self adjusting park brake in reverse - via foot or park brake application?
(Something I noticed with my parking brake is that it self applies going forwards. If the truck is rolling forwards and I just touch the park brake pedal the brake fully applies itself and stops the truck - normal?)