Ok I will look at the hoses tomorrow. Its midnight now so I will get on it tomorrow. Thanks a lot for all of the adise. I will let you know what turns up. Thanks again.

 

No problem...good luck and I hope it turns out to be something simple.

 

All that was need was for the system to be bled some more. After is sat all night I did another bleed of the system and it works great. A BIG thanks goes out to alloro and mobil auto repair for their help and advise.

 

thanks. you guys have been helpful w a problem i'm having.
i'm new to this forum, and have yet to figure out how to post things... but this has been very helpful.

 

Thats the point. Personally I have a lot of automotive experience but I didn't know much about vans when I bought mine one year ago. This forum has really helped me, trying to give some of my knowledge back today.

 

Hi everyone,

Well I'm in the same boat here. Own a `04 Ram 1500 4x4, changed the front calipers and pads. After bleeding, the pedal hits the floor on start up (rock solid when engine is off and brake assist isn't used).

Mechanic told me that the Combination Valve might have been triggered and needs to be reset.
Procedure - with engine running, don't touch the brake pedal, and open all 4 brake bleeder screws, then press the brake pedal completely to the floor and hold it there, while helper goes around and shuts them closed again. This should reset the directional valve, (might have to repeat this 2-3 times if you can't bleed the breaks and keep getting a spongy brake pedal that goes to the floor after bleeding)

Afterwards, start the bleeding process again starting with the farthest from the Master Cylinder and working your way around.

I'm still at my wits end, because I've done this 4 times already, gone through 1 gallon of break fluid, and the problem still persist? Don't think its the Master Cyl because when the truck is off, the pedal is rock solid. Just when I start it up and the brake assist kicks in the pedal goes straight to the floor (no leaks either?).

 

What was your reason for bleeding the brakes after changing the pads?

Did you adjust the rear brakes yet?

 

Alloro,

I changed the front calipers & brakes because I had one caliper sticking, and since this is my wife's truck, I don't fool around with taking chances. So I had to disconnect the breaklines in order to change the calibers, right.

When I couldn't get the breaks to pressure properly after bleeding, I checked the rear break pads for wear, they were all still good. Thinking that they were not activating, that's when I figured maybe there was the problem, so decided to bleed the entire set. Still could not get system to pressure up after bleeding.

After calling a local mechanic, he is the one that told me the combination valve might be stuck to one side (safety for when you loose front or rear brakes). So followed his instructions for a reset.

1- start engine
2- without touching the brakes, open all the bleeders
3- have helper depress the brake pedal to the floor and hold
4- close all bleeder valves
5- push pedal 4-5 times, this should tell combination valve that the system has equalized and return to neutral position
6- start the bleeding process again, starting with the farthest, working to the nearest to MC.

Did this at least 3-4 times, went through a Gallon of brake fluid.
But just can't get any pressure up?

As soon as I shut off the engine, brake pedal goes rock solid, all kinds of pressure. Minute you start the engine, pedal goes to the floor and no breaks?

So don't know if the Master Cyl by fluke just blew? If I have air in the MC, or if Combination valve hasn't reset itself?

I do all my own mechanical work on all my vehicles, so I'm not a newby here. I'm a second class millwright / heavy equip Oper, with a toolbox worth over $50K.

But this is throwing me for a loop!

Read an article stating are the calipers installed correctly? Both my front bleeders are on the bottom (double pistons on '04 ram's), could this possibly make a difference?

And this seem to be a common problem for Dodge from the post I see, but not much "how to fix" solutions posted.

 

Think about that for a moment. If the bleeder is on the bottom, and air rises when in fluid, can the air ever move down and out the bleeder screw?

You possibly have the 2 calipers swapped on the wrong sides.

 

Hi there Alloro,

Well we have good news! That's exactly what was the problem! Even an old dog in a hurry can still screw up. LOL

Called my mechanic friend again this morning and asked him the exact question, he started laughing saying, you just fixed your own problem. You installed the calipers backwards. And yes your right when you stop and think about it, it makes perfect sense! Just trying to be too technical with a simple trouble shoot LOL

So for everybody out there that's a back yard mechanic doing brakes, when changing the calipers on a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500, weather they are the front or rear calipers, always make sure to have the bleeder valves higher than the brake lines, it'll save you a lot of time, and about a Gallon of perfectly good brake fluid.

Thanks everybody for all your help, much appreciated!

Remember - "Hitting a deer doing 120 kms/hr, is still fast food hunt'g in the North" ;-)