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By Nat Santamaria - 16 Years Ago
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I went to Fleetwood Country Cruise In car show yesterday only to find I had no brakes as I was approaching the event. Unfortunately the situation ruined my day as I was concerned how I was going to get the car home. It was a 2 hour drive. My T-bird has power brakes. There does not appear to be any fluid loss. I also checked each inside tire wall and backing plates for fluid leaks. Master cylinder is full. If I pump the pedal, it comes up off the floor and there is plenty of stopping power. However if I try to stop by pushing the brake pedal without pumping it go goes to the floor. One strange note since I have owned the car is that under normal braking conditions in the city etc. the brakes have always been fine. When coming off the highway and applying the brakes for the first time only after coming off a high speed run the brake pedal seemed hard and difficult to stop the car. The next time applying the brakes it was back to normal. I just got used to pumping the brake once as I approached a Highway exit ramp. I think it might be a vacuum issue with the Power Booster.
Thanks in advance
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By pegleg - 16 Years Ago
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Sounds like it might be time to look at the master cylinder. Fluid will bypass when it's not being actuated.
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By Moz - 16 Years Ago
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g'day nat i agree with frank look at the master cylinder best way to ckeck it is pump the pedal untill youve got brakes after the last pump hold your foot on the pedal & see if it drops slowly to the floor if it does time for a new one.
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By DANIEL TINDER - 16 Years Ago
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Just had the exact same problem with my jap grocery getter (230K). Rebuilt master cyl. cured it.
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By Pete 55Tbird - 16 Years Ago
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Nat DO NOT DRIVE THAT THING. You only have a single system and thats got somethig SERRIOUSLY WRONG with it. If you do not feel qualified to fix it with a high degree of confidence, GET IT FIXED. Most likely the seals in the master cylinder need to be replaced. However it must be fixed. You could kill somebody. Pete
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By simplyconnected - 16 Years Ago
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Yeah... you could kill yourself. Might be a sign to install a dual M/C, so that won't happen again.
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By bergmanj - 16 Years Ago
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Simply Connected: Brag, Brag I'm up here in nothern MN; and, if you figure (by "rule of thumb") that 90% of Canada's population is within 10 miles of the U. S. border; AND, that 90% of that is in lower Ontario, THEN, most of us northern tier states are north of at least 50% of the Canadian population, and "I'm" north of about 81% of our fine (and I seriously DO mean fine - good folks) "northern" neighbors. Ha! JLB
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By Nat Santamaria - 16 Years Ago
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Hey guys.
My Tbird is in the shop. Apparently all it needed was a brake adjustment. No leaks were found. Brake linings are very good with lots of lining remaining.
The brake adjustment is probably something I should learn how to do.
Thanks for all your help.
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By DANIEL TINDER - 16 Years Ago
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Back in the day, used to be, you could order extra thick asbestos linings and have them cam-ground to fit your drums. If you were lucky, your new drums & hubs had minimal run-out, and the lug holes were not elongated as yet. You could then adjust brakes to just under factory specs. (6-8 clicks) and end up with a hard pedal & no eccentric drag. Even without power brakes, just a touch easily locked all 4 wheels.
Nowadays, with old/worn components, to get a hard pedal you usually have to put up with eccentric drag, which will usually crack/glaze the thinner linings available that never really fit the drums right to begin with, so by the time brakes are finally working good, it's time for new linings.
I'm about ready for a disk conversion!
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By simplyconnected - 16 Years Ago
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bergmanj (6/11/2009)
..."I'm" north of about 81% of our fine..."northern" neighbors... That's my point, JB, you consider them your northern neighbors. In Detroit, Canada is our SOUTHERN neighbor. (Pull out a map and draw a line straight down anywhere from Port Huron to Det.)Nat Santamaria (6/11/2009)
The brake adjustment is probably something I should learn how to do... Nat, it only requires a few minutes. You can buy the tool but it can be done with a small screwdriver. Just lift the wheel far enough off the ground to spin it and start turning that star wheel. When you feel a little resistance on the tire, you're done.DANIEL TINDER (6/11/2009)
...I'm about ready for a disk conversion! If you do Dan, you will never want to go back to drums. Get power disk brakes with dual M/C. Your brake pedal will put you through the windshield. Rear brakes don't do much stopping so drum or disk doesn't make much difference, there.
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By Pete 55Tbird - 16 Years Ago
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Nat The symptoms that you described in regard to your loss of brakes ARE NOT consistant with the brakes being out of adjustment. At the very least you should have your shop rebuild your master cylinder. Pete
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By oldcarmark - 16 Years Ago
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Thats good to hear Nat.just a word of caution.If the master is not holding or building pressure inside no leak would be apparent. The rubber cups inside allow the fluid past so no pedal.Just drive carefully until you are SURE the problem is solved.Regards,Mark
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By rexbd - 16 Years Ago
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Whats the deductible on your health insurance? Probably more than the cost of getting the master cylinder rebuilt. So rather than spend the money on a trip to the emergency dept because the brakes went out (and you damaged the car) fix the master cylinder and be safe. Not trying to be cute just another way to reflect on the expense.
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By simplyconnected - 16 Years Ago
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rexbd (6/12/2009)
Whats the deductible on your health insurance? Sorry for hijacking, but I had to laugh when I read this. It reminded me of when I was looking to buy a helmet. The sign said, "If you have a $50 head, you should buy a $50 helmet."
Yeah, brakes are the same thing.
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