I pulled the Green Monsta out this weekend & got a really big OH S*#T. I mashed the brakes to the floor & it didn't stop. The brakes started to kick in but my foot was on the floor. The brakes work but it's less than an inch from the floor. Does this mean it time to change the brake booster?
sounds like the master cylinder is going out....mine did the same exact thing... while i was driving home in the middle of rush hour....hair raising to say the least
It could be several things making your brakes fail. The master cylinder could be on it's way out, it could be low on brake fluid, the brake cylinders could be leaking, the brake lines could have air trapped in them, or a brake line could have a hole in it. It's definately not something to delay checking out. Not too long ago the brakes started to go out on our truck. Everytime I pushed the petal down it would go to the floor, but I could still pump them back up. Turns out one the brakes lines had a crack in it.
Same thing happened to last year. It turned out it was a bad wheel cylinder in my case. I pulled the master cylinder's cover to check the fluid and sure enough one of the reservoirs were empty. I went around and checked the top back side of each wheel, and that's where I found brake fluid. The wheel cylinder went bad. Like the others mentioned, it could be a few things, the first thing I would do is check your master cylinder and see if you lost fluid, and then try see if you can find a leak. I can't remember off hand, but the car has two reservoirs, and if you find one that is low it will narrow it down to the two possible brake lines, wheel cylinders etc. the problem is at.
I did check the fluid level & it's full. I also checked the front brakes, they look fine. I didn't check the back yet. My booster does look terrible, its also starting to peel. I thonght about replacing it but I don't want the same size, ITS BIG. I want a smaller one. Is the an option for our cars? No one mentioned the booster. How do you know if its going bad too? If I change one, I would like to change both. Like I said, my booster looks ugly. I will check the back brakes & air in the lines tonight or Wed. Rides come on TV tonight so maybe Wed.
The booster won't be the problem...all it does is use engine vacuum to assist in applying the brakes; if it went bad, you would get a brake pedal that was harder to push down. In your case I would say it is the master cylinder itself, since neither reservoir is low on fluid. What happens is an internal seal goes bad and the master cylinder doesn't produce the fluid pressure it should. At this point, your 'BRAKE' light would usually be lit, but in my experience, that doesn't always happen when it is the M/C itself, rather than a loss of brake fluid on one side of the system or the other...
also...there was no other booster offered for these cars. Of course you can always improvise and "make" something else work. I chucked my vacuum booster altogether and installed a Hydroboost power brake system(uses power steering fluid pressure for brake assist)...but my way of doing things isn't for everybody...
The Hydroboost is definitely smaller in terms of diameter. I don't know if it fits under the stock shock tower-to-firewall brace..I am using EFI and I don't have the braces installed. I am using a different master cylinder because I have 4-wheel discs. I did a short write up on my install, which can be found here: http://www.maverickcomet.com/TechArticles/Hydroboost/Hydroboost1.asp
Thanks, I'm going to check into that. Maybe that can be an option while the motor is out. I may be able to used a different brace.
Low fluid level, or air in the system due to a leak caused by: bad master cylinder, rear wheel cylinder, or front caliper...
I got around to working on it again. I had air in the lines. It took two people to do the brakes. I did they same thing I do when changing brakes on my other cars & never had this problem. Is there a tool I can buy that will get the air out lines when it just me changing the brakes?
Man, I know that feeling, happend to me a couple of times now. What my grandpa taught me to do when I bleed my brakes is just take a piece of small clear tube and put it down in the bottom of a clear bottle (old small Gatorade bottle) that is about half full of brake fluid. Open the bleeder valve and and pump the brakes till you stop seeing air bubles come out of the end of the tube, stopping every 5 pumps to make sure your master cylinder still has plenty of fluid. When the air bubbles stop comeing out, close the bleeder valve and you are done with that wheel. No air can get back into the system no matter how long you wait to close the bleeder valve as long as the end of the tube remains submerged in the brake fluid in the bottle. That gives you plenty of time to check the fluid level in the master cylinder and plenty of time to crawl back under the car and close the bleeder valve without haveing to worry about air getting back in. Guess your lucky you haven't got flamed on here yet for your brakes going out like I did...
Changing the brakes will not get air into the lines. Replacing one of the components of the hydraulic system can (ie master cyl, wheel cylinder, caliper, lines). One other thing that can cause a soft pedal is your rear brakes being out of adjustment. I was missing a self adjuster on one side and it got way out of adjustment, causing a soft pedal. I could pump the brakes and build the pressure, but first time it would go to the floor. I replaced just about everything and still had the problem, then I discovered the missing adjuster. Could have saved a bit of money if I'd have found that first, but hey, now I have a brand new brake system (except for the lines).
