Everyone,

I've just installed the new Eradispeed Rotors, Durastop pads and Goodridge SS brake lines. Everything is fine, except that I'm having a bit of a problem bleeding my brakes.

I've purchased and installed a set of speedbleeders, and from what I can tell, they seem to work as advertised. After assembly of the brakes, I bled each individual wheel in the proper order (Rear passenger, Rear Driver, Front Passenger and finally Front Driver). After the bleeding was completed, the pedal was hard as a rock, and I was a happy camper!

I put everything together and put the car down on the ground. I then started it up, and hit the pedal, and it went to the floor several times. I drove it around the block (carefully) to see if it would get better. It did get a bit firmer, but it is still extremely spongy and I have a bit of excessive travel before the brakes engage.

The question is this: should I bleed the calipers again or go to the dealer and have them do a full system bleed (ABS, etc)? :confused:

Did I bleed the calipers in the proper sequence? It seems that everything was fine until the engine was started and the power assist kicked in. Should I be bleeding the brakes with the engine started? :confused:

I used the brakes repeatedly in my test drive, and I didn't lose any fluid, and I'm not leaking at any of the lines or the calipers.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

Whitney:
Sorry to hear of your problem..I'm sure you probably do, but wanted to know if you have the Y-Platform Service Manuals on hand? If you don't let me know as I do and can copy here the method required to bleed the brakes on your C5 :chevy Let me know and I will send it to you post haste
I was wondering where those digi pics were of your work you had mentioned
the other day....
Tom


[Modified by BAD2BNE, 2:46 PM 8/11/2001]

 

Hey Tom,

I've got the pics in hand, and will get them to you to you tonight. I do have the service manuals, and I followed the bleed procedure to the letter, and this is where I'm at. :( They mention an auto-bleed procedure in the manual for the ABS unit. I hope I don't have to go that route.... I don't like the dealer touching my car. :D I'm hoping to do almost anything to keep from taking it to the dealer.

I drove it today, but the pedal is really spongy. It stops ok, but it's just not 'right'.

Even though it won't stop on a dime, it looks BAD A**! :D :cool: :lol:

Thanks for your offer to help!

 

WhitneyR,

This might work: While someone pumps the brake pedal with the speedbleeder open, take a light weight ball-peen hammer and tap on the caliper at the higest point on the caliper. Sometimes air bubbles pocket themselves at the top of the caliper and "tapping" will ofter dispell them.

And of course as you well know, don't let the master cylinder reservoir run dry in the bleeding process, or it's back to square one you go. :(

Good luck.
Mark

 

I would recommend bleeding them again. As long as you didn't let the master cylinder run dry, you should not need a full system bleed.

Changing lines can leave a great deal of air in the system so really bleed the heck out of them. Use a length of clear tubing on the end of your Speed Bleeder so you can see bubbles.

Mike

 

You must do an ABS stop after bleeding. You can also go to the dealer and they will do it with the techII computer. Just do an ABS stop and it will tighten up just fine.

 

Run that by me again? Are you sure of this? There's nothing in the Service Manual about this. I've worked on a lot of brakes (but only 1 C5) and never heard of it. But I'm always willing to learn.

As to the spongy brakes, did check the fluid in your MC when the spongy pedal first started?. After installation, you have to seat the new pads, which lowers the fluid level in the MC as the pads push "out" (from the calipers, toward the rotors). Depending on how far you pushed the caliper pistons in, this can use enough fluid to lower the level enough to introduce an air bubble into the lines. Gotta keep that MC full.

 

Thanks to all for your advice!

I finally got the brakes bled completely. It took 5 times :eek:, the wife pumping the brakes and a couple 32oz bottles of DOT4, but the pedal is now hard as a rock. The SS Lines do make a difference in how the pedal feels, and the car will really haul to a stop quick. I've got several pictures of the whole install, and I will post them as soon as I can get enough time to upload them to my web server.

The Eradispeed rotors look awesome! I painted my calipers w/ Red foliatec (again) and this time, I put on a couple coats of polyeurethane as a sealant. The Foliatec paint holds up reasonably well over time, but a couple of fresh coats put the calipers right back in the game!

Thanks again!
Whitney

 

:cool: Whitney!!!
I bet you are glad to have that job finished :cheers:
Good to hear the SS lines are a good touch to the total project.
I'll look forward to those pics to see your beast first hand :yesnod:

Later,
Tom