Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
Okay just got done bleeding my brakes and adjusting rear shoes.
The pedal for the most part is nice and firm, good stopping power. W/ very very little play until the brakes start to engage.
However, sometimes, the pedal will travel further (not execessive, just further) before the brakes start to engage, it does not seem to effect how well the car stops, but it just seems odd that once in a while the pedal travels further than it normally does now.
Any reasons? Brake shoes or pads not at the same place sometimes? I am pretty confident the lines are air-free. They do not require any pumping at any time.
Thanks,
Dave
The pedal for the most part is nice and firm, good stopping power. W/ very very little play until the brakes start to engage.
However, sometimes, the pedal will travel further (not execessive, just further) before the brakes start to engage, it does not seem to effect how well the car stops, but it just seems odd that once in a while the pedal travels further than it normally does now.
Any reasons? Brake shoes or pads not at the same place sometimes? I am pretty confident the lines are air-free. They do not require any pumping at any time.
Thanks,
Dave
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
Assuming you've checked for any evidence of fluid leaks underneath the car and also the level in your fluid reservoir. Your master cylinder might be going south. Any noticeable change in stopping power when it's in "soft" mode? I'm guessing maybe you're occasionally losing one of your two brake circuits at the master cylinder???
- Marc
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by flat4fantasy:
<B>... Brake shoes or pads not at the same place sometimes?
</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Could be...one possible source of such a problem is if any of the adjusting screws on the drum brakes are upside-down (since `65 the slot in them is angled to match the angle at the end of the shoe frame). This can cause a little notch to wear into the end of the shoe frame that can catch and keep the shoes from centering themselves - you can usually get away with just grinding a little bit off of the end of the frame to restore a straight edge.
<B>... Brake shoes or pads not at the same place sometimes?
</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Could be...one possible source of such a problem is if any of the adjusting screws on the drum brakes are upside-down (since `65 the slot in them is angled to match the angle at the end of the shoe frame). This can cause a little notch to wear into the end of the shoe frame that can catch and keep the shoes from centering themselves - you can usually get away with just grinding a little bit off of the end of the frame to restore a straight edge.
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
Commongear wrote:
>Any noticeable change in stopping power >when it's in "soft" mode?
Nope, none, MC is pretty new, at least in terms of mileage of use.
Marc wrote:
>one possible source of such a problem is if >any of the adjusting screws on the drum >brakes are upside-down
Ahh, this could be it then. I recently had my drums off and took out the adjusting screws. I will check.
Thanks for ideas.
>Any noticeable change in stopping power >when it's in "soft" mode?
Nope, none, MC is pretty new, at least in terms of mileage of use.
Marc wrote:
>one possible source of such a problem is if >any of the adjusting screws on the drum >brakes are upside-down
Ahh, this could be it then. I recently had my drums off and took out the adjusting screws. I will check.
Thanks for ideas.
- Mark the canuck
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
I just had almost the same thing on my wifes super. About once a month, last summer, the pedal would go almost to the floor, the rest of the time it was fine.
I blead the brakes, I know there were no leaks and the wheel cylinders were replaced when I did the shoes the summer before, but it did it again.
The wife drives it to work and out & about with the kiddies, so I wasn't going to take chances. I put in a new master cylinder and replaced a couple of hard lines just to be safe.
No more problems! The master cylinder was going south. So, I say play safe and replace it if it's old.
I blead the brakes, I know there were no leaks and the wheel cylinders were replaced when I did the shoes the summer before, but it did it again.
The wife drives it to work and out & about with the kiddies, so I wasn't going to take chances. I put in a new master cylinder and replaced a couple of hard lines just to be safe.
No more problems! The master cylinder was going south. So, I say play safe and replace it if it's old.
Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
you said something about one of the braking circuits not working, and i think this might be my problem also. sometimes when i brake, not always, my car wants to go to the right. im thinking that maybe on that occasion, only my right front wheel is breaking and not the left? would this be the reason or is it something else?
- Mark the canuck
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
Replace your rubber brake hoses!
I bet they are old and have swelled shut. The master cylinder has enough power to push fluid through the hose (sometimes) but it does not flow back. I've seen this many times.
[This message has been edited by Mark the canuck (edited 01-08-2003).]
I bet they are old and have swelled shut. The master cylinder has enough power to push fluid through the hose (sometimes) but it does not flow back. I've seen this many times.
[This message has been edited by Mark the canuck (edited 01-08-2003).]
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
I may be wrong, 73Notch, but I think the dual circuit braking system is set up such that one circuit controls, say left front & right rear, adn then the other one controls the right front and left rear. If one circuit's bad (either fluid leak or master cylinder blow-by), I would think that could cause the car to "pull" under breaking.
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Steve from Common Gear
http://members.aol.com/CommonGear/
'70 Squareback, full automatic, stock condition
Stony Creek, CT
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Steve from Common Gear
http://members.aol.com/CommonGear/
'70 Squareback, full automatic, stock condition
Stony Creek, CT
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
<<I bet they are old and have swelled shut>>
I've had this happen with an old Bug. I noticed that the brakes can tend to "drag," when you let off the pedal, since, I think, the swelled-shut line doesn't want to let the fluid travel back to the reservoir. So, dragging brakes I think would be a clue that it's time to change the flex hoses.
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Steve from Common Gear
http://members.aol.com/CommonGear/
'70 Squareback, full automatic, stock condition
Stony Creek, CT
I've had this happen with an old Bug. I noticed that the brakes can tend to "drag," when you let off the pedal, since, I think, the swelled-shut line doesn't want to let the fluid travel back to the reservoir. So, dragging brakes I think would be a clue that it's time to change the flex hoses.
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Steve from Common Gear
http://members.aol.com/CommonGear/
'70 Squareback, full automatic, stock condition
Stony Creek, CT
- Mark the canuck
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
Commongear, yep your wrong.
Dual circuit, one circuit is for the front brakes and the other is for the backs.
If one hose is swelled shut it will pull to one side. Then when you press real hard, you will push past the swelled part and both brakes seem to work again.
Yes, the brake will drag but will you notice it? Have you ever driven with you emergency brake on? The brake is being held shut by spongie rubber, not the hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder, so you may not notice it.
Trust me on this one, I replaced hundreds of hoses when I had my resto/repair shop. You can always take the hose off, clean it and try to blow through it. if you can't blow through it, it's swelled shut so it's NFG, get a new one and replace them in pairs.
Dual circuit, one circuit is for the front brakes and the other is for the backs.
If one hose is swelled shut it will pull to one side. Then when you press real hard, you will push past the swelled part and both brakes seem to work again.
Yes, the brake will drag but will you notice it? Have you ever driven with you emergency brake on? The brake is being held shut by spongie rubber, not the hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder, so you may not notice it.
Trust me on this one, I replaced hundreds of hoses when I had my resto/repair shop. You can always take the hose off, clean it and try to blow through it. if you can't blow through it, it's swelled shut so it's NFG, get a new one and replace them in pairs.
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
Mark, I am more than willing to admit that your resto/repair shop experience trumps the heck out of my novice enthusiast dabblings!
I've received good advice on this forum from people who know a lot more than me. In this was only attempting to add to the discussion, based on my admittedly very limited experience.
Best regards to all!
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Steve from Common Gear
http://members.aol.com/CommonGear/
'70 Squareback, full automatic, stock condition
Stony Creek, CT
I've received good advice on this forum from people who know a lot more than me. In this was only attempting to add to the discussion, based on my admittedly very limited experience.
Best regards to all!
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Steve from Common Gear
http://members.aol.com/CommonGear/
'70 Squareback, full automatic, stock condition
Stony Creek, CT
- Mark the canuck
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
I have years of professional experience and I still get things wrong.
Lots of input is what makes these forums great, if you’re wrong you’re wrong, at least you’ve learned something. Mark
Lots of input is what makes these forums great, if you’re wrong you’re wrong, at least you’ve learned something. Mark
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Brakes....pedal hard then soft???
Commongear wrote:
>I noticed that the brakes can tend >to "drag," when you let off the pedal...
I notice this also. When the brake does not go down further (what I would consider NORMAL operation) the pedal(brakes) engage very quickly and I notice that it seems like the brakes are grabbing also. But I don't know if they are rear or front. Do you think this would be the scenario of the stars "grabbing" the shoes or the lines? Everything is NEW on the car, as in less than 500 miles of use.
Dave
[This message has been edited by flat4fantasy (edited 01-10-2003).]
>I noticed that the brakes can tend >to "drag," when you let off the pedal...
I notice this also. When the brake does not go down further (what I would consider NORMAL operation) the pedal(brakes) engage very quickly and I notice that it seems like the brakes are grabbing also. But I don't know if they are rear or front. Do you think this would be the scenario of the stars "grabbing" the shoes or the lines? Everything is NEW on the car, as in less than 500 miles of use.
Dave
[This message has been edited by flat4fantasy (edited 01-10-2003).]