investinwaffles

Yeah, just unscrew that bolt with a cap on it - there is a spring behind it like Cruiser's picture shows so make sure you are ready for it to try and shoot out.

Try and remember the orientation as you remove it so you can put the ZJ prop valve back in easier.

JRusty15

I absolutely don't mind re-using the XJ proportioning valve as I already had to replace it last year because I stripped one of the ports. I'll swap out springs.

Also, I found a set of stainless steel pre-bent and flared brake lines for the rear axle. The kit came with two lines that go from each wheel to the distribution block on the rear axle. I think it was only like $45. I just don't have any luck flaring brake lines with the cheap-o flaring tool you can rent from the parts store. They always leak.

cruiser54

Here's some good ones.

JRusty15

This is very similar to the ones the auto parts stores rent. Maybe I'm just bad at it, but the majority of attempts I've made, I can't get it to seal perfectly.

cruiser54

Don't use a rental one. Some dummy has already boogered it up.

JRusty15

So I bought a brand new set of hard lines already bent with fittings on Amazon here:
Now I hooked them up and the threaded super easy. Went to bleed the brakes and it's still leaking at the junction of the hard line and the soft line on the rear passenger side! The fluid is actually coming out between the fitting and the hard line itself on the side facing away from the caliper. So it appears that the hard line flare is not sealing against the bottom of the soft line. There still appears to be a lot of thread left on the fitting when it's all the way cranked down. I'm wondering if I just maybe need to tighten a lot? I was starting to bend the hard line by tightening it so much. Or maybe the soft line female end is bad? I've tried three separate fittings and all of them leaked when connecting here. I'm just getting so frustrated with all these brake line leaks!!

JRusty15

Just an update:

I tightened up the brake line connections in the rear as much as humanly possible. I thought I was going to break something for sure. But went to bleed the brakes again and didn't notice any leaks! Woohoo!! Got the car back on the ground finally and the brakes work. Unfortunately it appears the pedal is still soft so I imagine there is some more bleeding to do.

Now I went to bleed the proportioning valve as I recall reading a thread where someone said it needs to be bleed when you swap in the ZJ valve. I had my partner push the pedal down and I loosened the cap, but no fluid was coming out? I'm wondering if I did something wrong that there is no fluid coming out. But I'm going to research again and see if I did something wrong.

cruiser54

Did you bleed the master cylinder?

investinwaffles

Also, just FYI - apparently the ZJ cap and XJ cap's are not interchangeable - you need to use the respective spring, prop valve, and cap or it will leak (supposedly)

For a spongy pedal - make sure you have bled the prop valve thoroughly - I was not able to get my system bled properly with the 1 person method, gonna try to get a friend to sit in the car and pump the pedal for me one of these days

JRusty15

I did not bleed the master cylinder. I didn't think I had to since I didn't disconnect anything from it?

I believe I used the ZJ valve, ZJ spring, and XJ cap. I can put the ZJ cap on and test it out, but yes I do remember something about it leaking if you don't use the right parts.

Can you elaborate on how to bleed the prop valve? The reason I ask is because I didn't get ANY fluid coming out of the bleed screw (aka the cap) with my partner pumping the brakes. I'm wondering if its because I have the XJ cap on with the ZJ internals.

JRusty15

I swapped caps and springs yesterday and tried all combinations. One of the caps always leaked, so that definitely wasn't it. I tried bleeding the prop valve with the other cap and both springs, and neither got any fluid out when bleeding with the 2 man method. We must have pumped at least 10 times on each spring. So I decided to drive it around the parking lot anyway and see what happens. The pedal feels spongy, but to be honest I'm not sure what it should feel like. The car stops fine from 30mph at least. The funny part is when I slam on the brakes the parking brake light comes on briefly! Haha...but this may be because I have yet to connect the cable leading to the handle with the cables leading to the parking brake shoes.

Oswalla

This is a fluid issue when the light comes on. Cruiser pointed you in that direction. Master Cylinder bench bleed, then full bleed the system is what I would do. Then you have ruled out air bubble somewhere.

Example I recently had a rear cylinder leak. Light would come on under hard brakeing. MC reservoir was low, not empty. Replaced cylinder and bled, spongy pedal and intermittent light under hard braking. MC must have sloshed and sucked air at some point.

JRusty15

Good point. At that point I might as well just replace the MC since the rest of the brake system is brand new. Literally, prop valve is new, hard lines are new, rotors, pads, calipers, e-brake system. The master cylinder has not yet been updated.

JRusty15

What's even better was I just found a new ACDelco master cylinder on Amazon for $28, free 2 day shipping! Done!

investinwaffles

Bench bleeding always eliminates the question of air in the master. Do you have ABS? Not sure on the Bleed procedure for that

When I bled the prop valve, I had my friend pressurize and hold, then backed the prop valve cover screw thingy off until fluid started coming out of the threads, apparently it doesn't bleed through the nipple from what I have seen (go figure). Did that 3-4 times, did not bench bleed the master but I kind of want to