Brake issue/question

[Aerovette]

I need to know if I am taking my life in my hands.

Friday, after I left work, I was headed to a store I HAD to get to by 6:00. I exited the highway and when I approached traffic I stepped on the brakes and ...NOTHING. I pumped them several times and got enough pedal that I could stop. I HAD to get to the store before they closed so I pulled into a gas station to check things out. The right rear wheel smelled like hot brake pads. Nothing was leaking, the reservoir was still full and reasonably clear.

I nursed it and pumped the pedal each time I had to stop and went in the store. I was in there about 30 minutes. I came out and decided I would go a block or two to NAPA and pick up a master cylinder, assuming it had failed.
The entire trip home the brakes worked perfectly. WTH?

I went ahead and swapped the MC. I did a bench bleed on it before I put it in.

I was about to start bleeding them when it hit me that I have never bled ABS brakes before. The internet references Tech2 equipment and stuff I don't have. I did it the old fashioned way. I got my wife to pump the pedal and hold and I went wheel by wheel. I took it for a test drive and it work perfectly fine...but it did that before the swap too.

Will bleeding without the Tech2 still work?

It is a vacuum booster, not the hydraulic kind I also read about.

Speak to me "Barners" ...am I taking a big risk?

What will a typical shop charge to bleed them if I go during my lunch hour and drop it off?

[RED-85-Z51]

Tried to do an emergency stop on dirt?

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by RED-85-Z51

Tried to do an emergency stop on dirt?

I did several, but not on dirt.

50 plus MPH and HARD stop. A little chirp out of the rear and then the familiar pulse under my foot.

[...Whitepower...]

What kind/year car?

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by ...Whitepower...

What kind/year car?

2000 Silverado stepside, single cab, 4.8 V8.

[...Whitepower...]

There were several brake recalls it looks like. Have you had your's checked out? Why waste your money if the dealer will bank roll the repair.

2000 Chevrolet Silverado Recalls & Problems - Motor Trend Magazine

[...Whitepower...]

Check out the URL name..lol ChevySilveradoBrakeProblems.com

[RED-85-Z51]

When GM went to disc rear brakes on the GMT trucks, it was like one brake related problem after another, sticking calipers, loose calipers, hoses blowing...To me, on a GMT800 truck, a standard brake job includes at least new rear calipers...

[Sneaks]

Sounds like you had a caliper sticking that caused the brakes to heat up to the point that it caused brake fade/failure. Apparently it came unstuck after sitting and cooling down. Hence the reason it worked after you came out of the store.
Brakes are the one thing you should NOT play around with. I would look into the recalls. There seems to be quite a few.

[mrvette]

I have owned ONE car in my life with ABS, wife has has two, my '87 vette managed to activate the ABS twice in winter snow up north.....

to ME, it's a waste.....

[81.]

Originally Posted by Sneaks

Sounds like you had a caliper sticking that caused the brakes to heat up to the point that it caused brake fade/failure. Apparently it came unstuck after sitting and cooling down. Hence the reason it worked after you came out of the store.
Brakes are the one thing you should NOT play around with. I would look into the recalls. There seems to be quite a few.

this was my guess.

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by Sneaks

Sounds like you had a caliper sticking that caused the brakes to heat up to the point that it caused brake fade/failure. Apparently it came unstuck after sitting and cooling down. Hence the reason it worked after you came out of the store.
Brakes are the one thing you should NOT play around with. I would look into the recalls. There seems to be quite a few.

I would think one caliper sticking and three still operating, would not provide that much fade and certainly not allow the pedal to go to the floor.