Brake trouble . . .

Have been having some interesting trouble with the breaks. Sometimes I can push the pedal down only a little and it breaks and sometimes it goes all the way to the bottom before stopping the car. Sometimes it'll stop the car with a little pressure and as my foot is on the break pedal the pedal travels further down. Weird woodoo stuff.

We instpected the breaks and everything seemed ok so we thinking it's the master cylinder. We stopped by CNC Brakes and talked to Chuck who is gonna sell me a master cylinder. We should be able to get it done this next week if all goes well.

 

I think your on the right track, definately sounds like the master is on the way out.....

 

it hasn't been too bad so I've decided to cont driving the car. Am I being ignorant or is it safe?

 

When the pedal goes all the way to the floor, you can decide for yourself....

 

I wouldn't chance driving it like that.....

 

ok. probably not a good idea. i'll park it.

 

Far better to park it until you get it fixed, it would be a shame to wreck because the brakes gave up completely.....

 

Or get you a good pair of Flintstone tennis shoes to whoa it down.........................nope that idea won't work either. Fred Flintstone never wore shoes!

 

Worn seals in the master cyl! If you hit the brake fast,it will hold. If you brake normally pedal holds for a second and falls to the floor. Totally unsafe,quit driving the car and get a new master cyl!!!

 

Yeah, MC sounds like the problem. If you can pump the pedal a few times and get pressure back, that is another symptom of a worn-out MC.

 

You better listen to these guys I was stopped at a red light I was gonna turn right leaving work (Rush hour traffic) and my master cylinder gave, my car shot through the intersection I jerked the wheel to the left to go straight luckly no one ran the red light. Pretty scary.

 

Was having the exact same symptoms with our car while driving it home the day we bought it. Replaced the Master Cylinder and all is fine now.

 

You could always drive with the ebrake on if you really need to.

 

Brakes

I agree w/ all those who say stop driving until u get the master.
While ur at it, I wud change wheel cyl and brake hoses too if u have'nt already done so.
IMO brake work is first priorty - I see guys spending thousands of dollars under their hoods, on wheels and tires, paint jobs and have a brake system w/ single res. MC and four wheel drum brakes. All the time and money spent is meaningless if u wreck the car cuz u can't stop.

 

Today we bench bled the master cylinder. Pretty simple process. Plugged the holes that go to the break lines, then poured Dot3 into the reservoir and just pumped the piston back and forth. Got some bubbles. After a while there wasn't much piston travel and no bubbles.