Brake Problem - Squishy peddle and brake light is on.

I heard my rear passenger brake on my '99 ZR2 blazer starting to go bad, so I went to go change the pads and found that one of the pins in the caliper bracket had rusted stiff. Since I had no other vehicle to take to go to a salvage shop, I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to go with just 3 brakes, and temporarily mount the one I was working on to the cars suspension. It worked alright on the way to the shop, though the brake light on the guage was on, and the peddle felt very squishy - as if there was no pressure (I had to get the peddle close to the floor to stop). Got a new braket from the shop and went back to work. I noticed that the cylindrical peice on the caliper looked over-extended (some of the rubber around the cylinder had popped out), and it also looked like I might have lost a decent amount of brake fluid. I took a C-clamp and pushed the caliper back in and installed everything. Needless to say, the brake light is still on and the peddle is squishy; though, it's braking a little better with 4 brakes rather than 3. I don't know what to do, whether or not I need to bleed the brakes. If so, I've never done that!

Please help!
Eric Kingston

Driving with three brakes instead of four is never, ever a good idea. For one were you able to get your caliper back over the rotor? If so, check your brake fluid. If it is low fill it up then you must bleed the brakes. To do so, Make sure the fluid is completely full and have someone sit in the vehicle. Tell them to pump up the brake a few times and then hold it down, open the release valve on the back of the caliper until the pedal reaches the floor. DO NOT RELEASE THE PEDAL UNTIL THE RELEASE VALVE IS FULLY CLOSED. If you do you will suck more air into the system. Do this to all four valves until the pedal had regained a hard feel. Constantly check the level in the master cylinder, because if it goes too low to the hammer, it will just be sucking air in the system. To do this properly start by bleeding the back left, then the right front, then the right back, then the left front. Hope this helps.

The hydraulic brake bleeding procedure the previous poster describes is basically correct for non-ABS systems however the ABS module adds some complexity to the procedure. If the base bleeding procedure doesn't restore a firm pedal then there is air trapped in the ABS module and must be bled. This requires the use of a scan tool capable of cycling the internal valves in the module. Use a suitable scan tool to run the function test four times while applying the brake pedal firmly. Re-bleed all four wheels after running the function test so that all air is expelled from the brake system. Also, the correct brake bleeding sequence is:
1. Right rear
2. Left rear
3. Right front
4. Left front
You always bleed the farthest line from the master cylinder first and move in sequence toward it. Hope this helps!