2004 Tahoe Brakes, Master Cylinder

[JustGibby]

Hi. I'm new here and this is my first post, so I hope I'm in the right spot. We bought an '04 Tahoe back in 2019. Not long after, I sprung a brake fluid leak. Found it was a front passenger-side line. Took it to a shop cause it was wintertime and I hate trying to work on a vehicle in the cold and I also hate brake lines.
Side note: I am not a mechanic, not even a "backyard mechanic." I just tinker a little to try to save money, if it's something I feel confident that I can do myself.
Not even a month after they fixed that front line, I lost my pedal again. Couldn't find the leak this time. Looked for it several different times over the next week or so, but couldn't find anything. I still had half brakes though, so I kept up with the fluid and just kept driving it, with every intention of tracking this leak down once it got warm outside again.
I eventually discovered that it was the back brakes that I lost, due to the rust that started appearing on the back rotors. Still couldn't find the leak though.
Fast forward to this past summer (2024). My youngest kid (he'll be 18 this month) decided he's interested in being a mechanic. So we went out and I told him to get in and work the pedal while I look for the leak. FINALLY I was able to find it with a flashlight while he was pushing the brake pedal--- master cylinder.
I bought a new master, 4 new rotors, 4 new calipers, and all new pads. Figured it was probably best to do the master first. Never done one before, so I look into it and discover I can't because it needs bench-bled. Took it to the shop, they find 2 bleeder screws are broken off before they even start the job. They tell me it'd be best to do the entire job at one time.
We can't really afford that. So I decide that me and my kid might go ahead and do as much of the job as we can and then take it back to the shop and let them finish it. I've done pads, calipers, and rotors on other vehicles before, so we should be able to do it all but the master.
I'm just wondering, is it a bad idea to do the wheels before they do the master?
Also, how hard is a pad/caliper/rotor job on these Tahoes? I've never worked on a vehicle this big. Always had Rangers, Exploders, Cherokees, small stuff like that. Anything special I might need to know?
Sorry for the long, rambling post... Hope I done this right

 

[Marky Dissod]

I'm not sure enough to definitively answer your 1st question, so I won't, to cover my spindly lil @$$.

... how hard is a pad/caliper/rotor job on these Tahoes?

As easy / hard as it is on any of those other vehicles.

Anything special I might need to know?

You said something about not being able to 'really afford that'?
Well, then you might have trouble affording a 2010 Suburban front brake upgrade, maybe?

Just pretend you have a 2010 Suburban, & ask parts chimp for
caliper brackets
calipers
rotors
pads
for a 2010 Suburban.

Remove old schidt, install new schidt, wonder why you did not do it sooner, thank me later.

 

[rockola1971]

Hi. I'm new here and this is my first post, so I hope I'm in the right spot. We bought an '04 Tahoe back in 2019. Not long after, I sprung a brake fluid leak. Found it was a front passenger-side line. Took it to a shop cause it was wintertime and I hate trying to work on a vehicle in the cold and I also hate brake lines.
Side note: I am not a mechanic, not even a "backyard mechanic." I just tinker a little to try to save money, if it's something I feel confident that I can do myself.
Not even a month after they fixed that front line, I lost my pedal again. Couldn't find the leak this time. Looked for it several different times over the next week or so, but couldn't find anything. I still had half brakes though, so I kept up with the fluid and just kept driving it, with every intention of tracking this leak down once it got warm outside again.
I eventually discovered that it was the back brakes that I lost, due to the rust that started appearing on the back rotors. Still couldn't find the leak though.
Fast forward to this past summer (2024). My youngest kid (he'll be 18 this month) decided he's interested in being a mechanic. So we went out and I told him to get in and work the pedal while I look for the leak. FINALLY I was able to find it with a flashlight while he was pushing the brake pedal--- master cylinder.
I bought a new master, 4 new rotors, 4 new calipers, and all new pads. Figured it was probably best to do the master first. Never done one before, so I look into it and discover I can't because it needs bench-bled. Took it to the shop, they find 2 bleeder screws are broken off before they even start the job. They tell me it'd be best to do the entire job at one time.
We can't really afford that. So I decide that me and my kid might go ahead and do as much of the job as we can and then take it back to the shop and let them finish it. I've done pads, calipers, and rotors on other vehicles before, so we should be able to do it all but the master.
I'm just wondering, is it a bad idea to do the wheels before they do the master?
Also, how hard is a pad/caliper/rotor job on these Tahoes? I've never worked on a vehicle this big. Always had Rangers, Exploders, Cherokees, small stuff like that. Anything special I might need to know?
Sorry for the long, rambling post... Hope I done this right

Stop driving a vehicle around with faulty brakes before you kill yourself or someone else. (They taught us this in our teens).

You will not be able to get a firm pedal once you have replaced calipers and master cylinder because air will be trapped in the ABS manifold behind its solenoids. The only effective way to bleed the system is with a bidirectional scanner.

I would inspect all metal lines for corrosion and not be surprised that one, some, most or all need replaced because of age and severity of corrosion.

Im not sure why bench bleeding a master cylinder required you to take it to a shop? When it can be done installed on the vehicle with a plastic bench bleeder kit (which some master cylinders come with) in about 3-5mins. There are how to videos for this as well as most everything else. I think there is even lessons on how to train an armadillo to make you a cheeseburger while juggling 3 parrots and singing a 80s Hair metal ballad!

 

[Tahoe14]

Do a Google search for videos, probably YouTube videos will pop up.

 

[JustGibby]

Thanks for the replies guys.
What I meant by "not really being able to afford that," is that it's probably gonna cost an arm and a leg for a shop to do all that work (rotors, calipers, master) at one time. I've been into one of the front wheels now and it's a freakin' mess. I can only imagine the rear. Especially since those brakes haven't worked in about 4 years now. Also discovered the caliper bolts are torx heads, although everything I've read online said it'd have regular metric bolts.
I know it's not smart to drive a vehicle that's having issues. I drive a lot differently than normal when I have a failing part though, if I drive it at all. It all depends on which part is failing, how long it's been failing, exactly what might happen if it totally goes out, etc. I've been told by multiple people now that "there's still plenty of pad left" on the front brakes. But I've done bought new ones and they're going on there anyways. What I'm getting at though, is after 4 years of only having front brakes, to have this much pad left, you can tell I've really tried to stay off the brakes as much as possible, and when I do use them, it's nothing like normal driving. (I know you can't see them through the interwebs, I just don't want y'all thinking I'm out here driving and braking like a maniac).
The talk of air being trapped "in the ABS manifold behind its solenoids" and the need for a bidirectional scanner to correct this is something I cannot do. I know nothing about the ABS system to begin with. I only know what it is. Never fooled with ABS, don't know anything about it. Also don't have a bidirectional scanner.
As for the bench bleeding, I don't have a vise. Was told I had to have one, and was also told about a small, triangular shaped spot inside the master where an air pocket would get trapped without a vise.
As I said, I am far from being a mechanic. The only reason I ever started fooling with any automotive work to begin with was because of an old '91 Exploder I used to have. I dumped sooo much money into that thing, you would've thought I had a Jeep instead of a Ford. You know the saying, "Just Empty Every Pocket." Even threw a $3200 motor in it. That old Exploder was a money pit, no joke. The dough I put into parts alone was crazy, I figured if I learned a thing or two, I could at least save some on the labor. I was making really good money back then though, but that's not the case at the moment.
As for the lines, I've done predicted that I'll probably blow at least 2 within the first month after this job is done and the system is full of fluid again. Hopefully I'm wrong. If we had the funds, I'd go ahead and replace several (if not all) of the metal lines. I wish money grew on trees, I'd have the biggest orchard you ever seen.
Thanks for the help and the replies though, y'all. I'll give it another go tomorrow. If I don't get anywhere, I guess I'll be shop-bound on this job. I don't think we'll be saving any money on this one.