97 Blazer, soft brake pedal..Any ideas??

[chubbygoatboy]

I am working on a 97 Blazer, it has had soft pedal for a while. But the pads finally gave out. So, I put on new pads, rotors, and one caliper, (had a torn boot, but was not leaking). Bled the system. Took it for a test drive, had OK brakes, except the pedal goes down too far. After the initial bleed, it had good pedal until it was started for the first time. You can pump it up, have great pedal, then keep your foot on the pedal, start the car, and your foot goes to the floor.

Any ideas?? It does have ABS, and it appears to be working in our snow covered drive, but not on the street. The car stops OK, but just not good pedal. So, I replaced the master cylinder, re-bled. SAME PROBLEM!!!!

NOW WHAT?? THANKS FOR ANY IDEAS!!

[ZL1power69]

try bleeding the abs unit. a friend of mine has a 95 and his pedal was going to the floor. we bled the abs unit yesterday and there was sefinately some air in the system. the pedal does not go down as far anymore (although his abs still does not work).

[Blue Bowtie]

Does this have the Kelsey-Hayes ABS system? If so, you may need to cycle the ABS unit to get a good bleed. The Delco-Morraine systems can be bled without having to cycle the actuator, but it can take some time as well.

The other possibility is an incorrect push rod length for the master cylinder. That's been covered here before.

[chubbygoatboy]

Thanks, I appreciate the ideas!! I am not sure what system it has, but I can find out. I have never had to bleed the ABS unit on anything I have worked on, but I will give it a try.