Yes a little bit of fluid comes out when my son pushed the pedal to the floor and then it stops. It does this every time he releases and I keep holding it down.

Got you on bleeding all four wheels

OK I am going to just make sure I'm doing things right on bleeding.

I was told to start with the farthest away wheel and work towards the one closest to the MC. Now, I know you loosen the bleeder valve, but is there a procedure that I need to make sure to follow correctly? Like how hard do you push on the brakes while that is open, etc?

I’ve never seen a combination valve that leaks fluid from the pintle valve when bleeding. I would expect air to be introduced into the system due to the leak but that may not be the case.

You can try to bleed with the valve leaking, but if it’s unsuccessful I’d recommend replacing it.

When manually bleeding brakes the simplest and most effective process is to have a helper pump the brake pedal 4 or 5 times to build pressure and then hold the pedal down while you crack the bleeder open. You don’t have to keep the bleeder open - just crack it loose for about a 1/2 second, then close it again, making sure your helper DOES NOT release the pedal until you close the bleeder.

Repeat the pump-and-hold routine at least 5 times as it can take quite a while to get air pushed all the way to the rear wheels. Once you stop seeing air, repeat at least twice.

The sequence to follow is right rear, left rear, right front, left front. Make sure to keep a close eye on the fluid level in the MC as the rear circuit drains quickly during bleeding.

You can also vacuum bleed the brakes - tools are available at places like Harbor Freight and Northern Tool, but the problem with vacuum bleeding is it will draw air into the hose from around the bleeder threads, so you never stop seeing air in the tube.

There’s also speed bleeders - they’re bleeder screws with a check valve that prevents air from getting drawn back into the system.

To clarify from my end, I had it depressed when my son hit the brake pedal only. I guess what you are saying is, get a coin and zip tie it on there so it stays depressed and then hit the 4 wheels?

Got it. Thanks! I think you just saved me from killing myself under the dash. LOL

Let me clarify my comments from last night. Only when I pushed in that valve and had my son push the brakes did fluid shoot out. You will see later on what we did tonight.

OK this is the sequence I followed. The only thing I did not do, just in the interest of time, and it was dark, was do the coin on the pintle valve to hold it down. I did have my son push the brakes in and the pintle valve pushed out, but no fluid came out.

So I started the sequence. Almost immediately from the right rear, when I opened it up with the pedal held to the floor, I could see and hear air. So we did that all around.

NOTE: On the front bleeders, the fluid shot out pretty hard and fast when barely opening it. I assume I have good pressure there.

So we started to notice the pedal firming up. We did it all around on all four wheels again. It was getting better.

Remember that brake light always being on? Well, after the second round of bleeding, it stays off by itself. Pushing the pedal in and it stayed off too, whereas in the past it would turn on and stay on. So I took it for a test drive.

TEST DRIVE OBSERVATIONS

• Brakes are not squishy feeling, but there is a lot of travel still. However, the truck stops much quicker than before.
• When I stomped on the brakes, it was super firm, almost hard.
• I got it up to a good speed, around 35MPH and then pushed hard on the brakes. I felt the ABS kick in, and this time, the brake light came on. I pumped the brakes once, and it went off. This happened on the rest of the short trip back home.
• When hitting the brakes, I hear air, but not as much as before.

What are your thoughts now as to why the brakes are firming up, but still not as solid as they should be? BTW, MAJOR THANKS for taking me down this path and saving me about $80 and a lot of headache and disappointment on replacing a Brake Booster, when that was not the issue. :D

Happy to hear it was not the booster! I would say you need to bleed the brakes again. After replacing the pads, the calipers, and a couple of brake lines on my 99 Silverado a few years back, I had sort of a firm squishy pedal. After driving it for 3 or 4 days, I re-bled the brakes and got more air out and from that point on, my brake pedal was no longer squishy. Just nice and firm.

Good luck!

My thoughts are there’s still air in the system.

You clearly got some more air out of the system, but without keeping the pintle valve depressed, bleeding properly is going to be a long, drawn out process.

If you want to buy the tool or figure out a different way to keep the valve depressed that’s up to you. A coin and zip ties is a quick way to make something work immediately as opposed to making another trip to the store or waiting for an online order to be delivered.

I am going to use a coin and a zip tie. took it out on the road for an extended drive at top speed. It's stopping way better but I know there is more.

So, do I need to do all four wheels again, or just focus on the rear based on my comments earlier that it's literally shooting out hard from the front bleeders as soon as I crack it?

You can probably jump back and forth between the rear brakes for a while without working through the sequence every time - the smaller portion of the MC is what feeds the rear circuit, so it is somewhat isolated from the front, but I’d recommend bleeding the fronts as well once you’re satisfied there’s no more air in the rear circuit.

Status Update:

I know that I said I was going to use the coin thing, but I didn't. Mostly because I was getting frustrated.

So, I drove the truck around this weekend and yes, much better in terms of the brakes. Tonight, got my son in the cab, did each of the rear wheels about 5 times apiece. Got in the truck, was already firm. Using brakes either hard and fast, or gradual, I no longer have a mushy pedal.

Thank you so much Gumby22 for saving me about $80 on a booster that you were right, would not fix the problem. Many kudos to all those that helped to weigh in.