I was wondering, when I am flushing and bleeding my brakes, do I need to have my car running? I ask this because when my car is off my brakes willl build up lots of pressure to the point you can barely press the brake pedal. If I have the car running, the pedal will always go to the floor. I am sorry if I sound like a complete novice but I have never really tackled flushing and bleeding on my own. I have always let friends do it since they had the equipment to make it easy.

 

i'd try a gravity bleed first if that doesn't help them do it with the car running, be careful of fumes and falling cars

 

Thanks Ede. When you say "gravity bleed" That just means pumping the pedal and everything with the car not running?

 

Chevyguy, my brakes used to be like that when I swapped my 3.73/posi/disc axle on... I always thought I had a firm pedal until I turned the car on. But when you get a "real" pedal, you'll notice right away- it'll be higher than anything you're feeling now.

Want a hell of a tool? http://www.brakebleeder.com I know I sound like I'm paid to advertise them, but that tool fixed my "air" problem so damn fast that it was incredible. I spent Days trying to manually bleed the system, even tried to build my own pressure bleedure (via my air compressor), which cracked in half from too much pressure. But that V12 w/Smart Pak fixed it all!

A Mityvac can be cheap, too... could find them locally or http://www.eastwoodcompany.com sometimes has the "brake bleeder only" tool for cheap.

 

i'm like tom i have the v12 and there isn't anything better or faster. to gravity bleed it just open the bleeder screws and let the fluid run out. make sure you keep the MC full.

 

Gravity bleeding? Since air bubbles will rise in the fluid, would they ever come out the bleeder on their own?
Nobody has yet mentioned that, with the car running, the brake booster will substantially increase the pressure you will able to generate in the system. High pressure hydraulics are kinda dangerous if they develop leaks (leak=you opening the bleeder). Do be careful if you decide to do it this way.

 

Thanks for all of the info guys. I am going to install a set of Earl's Solo-Bleeders. A guy on here has used and really likes them. At $10 a pair I figured they are worth a try. I have heard lots of good things about the V12 and I am considering buying one in the near future. No one has really answered my question though, should I bleed the brakes with the car running? I do not know, it would seem like I should since the load up when it is not running. I am also going to the mod to my PV and remove the plunger and spring inside of it. Everyone seems to be having luck with it so I am going to give it a try.

 

yeah bleed them with the car running

 

Thank you Ede, I will post my results after this weekend.

 

Solo-bleeds are great. Just crack them open one at a time and pump the brake pedal about 20 times to the floor and full release with the engine off is fine. When you open the bleed valve, turn the valve just one full revolution and hook a clear hose to it to see the color of fluid coming out. When the fluid gets lighter in color, the old fluid is out of that individual line. Make sure to always refill your resivoir and recap it after aprox. 20 pumps so that you don't draw air into the lines. You can probably go 40 to 50 pumps without refilling but 20 pumps should be enough to pump new fluid into each individual line and its best to error on the conservative side and refill after each wheel.

 

Okay, here we go so far. I did the PV mod and found a plug at a fastener store here in Austin. Since other people may want to do this and since they are so hard to find, I bought 3 extra. The mod itself went by the instructions found on GM Forums. So next I move on to installing the Solo-Bleeders in the rear calipers. The installation was easy but I could never get it to work right. I tried it on both calipers and kept getting the brake warning light. I spent a combined time of 2 hours trying to get them to work and couldn't so I put my original bleeder screws back in and my friend helped me bleed them the old fashioned way. We also bled the fronts for good measure.
The test drive... the car has a very very slight bit of improvement. I did touch the rotors in the back and they where red hot so obviously they are working. I think I still have air in my lines and this is where my questions come.

1. how do I bleed the PV? Do I bleed it kinda like a bleeder screw on a caliper?

2. how can i check to see if my master cylinder is dying? Could this be the problem?

3. i know should have mentioned this before but it looks like my rear pass brake line has a small leak in it. How and where do you adjust the e-brake cable to loosen it? There is spring for the cable that is directly under the bolt holding the connection to the hose. I tried getting to the splitter braket above the driveshaft but even with the drive shaft lower I could not get any tools to it.

I am kinda at my wits end with this brake thing. I seriously thinking of taking it to a shop and letting them take a look at it.
My biggest problem is that I do not have a real garage to work in, everything is done out on the hot pavement and I do not have a good bench arear with a vise. Any info, advice, or comments are welcome and appreciated.

 

I'm curious why you could not figure out how to use the solo-bleeds? Its a simple one turn open of the solo-bleed valve, then go prump the brake pedal several times, then close the valve and go to the next wheel. No offence, but it doesn't get easier than that. I've been using these things since they first came out years ago.

Are your sure you have solo-bleeds (made by Earls) and not the speed- bleeders(made by Russell)? Russell's don't work as they claim.

The PV is bleed via the 4 wheel bleed valves.

 

Yeah, they are the Earl's Solo-Bleeders. I ordered them from Summit using the part number you gave me. I still have them so I may try them again. My car has well over 150K miles on it. Whow knows, my MC may be dying on me. Is there any good way to test the MC to make sure it is actually working correctly?
I really do like the design behind the solo-bleeders so I may give them another try later on. In the meantime, my car stops just a tiny bit better than it did so I guess that is good.
I am going to take the car to a brake shop to have the new hose put on as well as get the e-brake working properly. I will post more updates as I get them.
Thank you for all your help AFGT.