Brakes..
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,732
Likes: 2
From: Yes .....VA
Brakes..
Out for a cruise today and the brakes were as usual...stopping the car and so forth..;) ..accidently left the A/C on before I shut her off..(Normally try and turn it off before ignition..Only thing I can think of that I did differently).....got back in the car after my stop...drove a few miles and they were fine....then the peddle went 3/4 of the way to the floor before engaging, and really soft braking as if backs were activated only...Brake Light Fires....I pump to slow down and stop OK.
Did this for a couple of miles home....checked the front brake lines and Master cylinders for leakage....negative. Took it back out for a test drive and all was well.....I have been through my Haynes Manual with no red flags.....Anyone have any ideas??....maybe air in the lines??...need to be bled??........ :confused:
Did this for a couple of miles home....checked the front brake lines and Master cylinders for leakage....negative. Took it back out for a test drive and all was well.....I have been through my Haynes Manual with no red flags.....Anyone have any ideas??....maybe air in the lines??...need to be bled??........ :confused:
Race Director
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 14,165
Likes: 9
Re: Brakes.. (vette5)
After making about 10 back to back passes at the track one day my brakes did something similar. I pressed the pedal and it fell to the floor. I let off and hit it again and it caught about half way and they really sucked. It was enough to get me off the track safely. I went around to the pits and started checking everything out. No red flags at all, everything seemed fine. I let it sit for a while and fired itback up, no troubles.
The theory is that I just boiled the fluid. The car was 10 years old and the odds are the fluid has never been changed. I flushed the system with new synthetic fluid and I haven't had a problem since. Now flushing the brake fluid is part of my yearly maintanence routine.
The theory is that I just boiled the fluid. The car was 10 years old and the odds are the fluid has never been changed. I flushed the system with new synthetic fluid and I haven't had a problem since. Now flushing the brake fluid is part of my yearly maintanence routine.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,732
Likes: 2
From: Yes .....VA
Re: Brakes.. (Nathan Plemons)
Thanks for the Info....after reading your post as well as some of the archived stuff, I tend to agree.....the brake fluid in my reservoirs looks like motor oil. :eek:
Racer
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 381
Likes: 8
From: NORTH WEST PA
Re: Brakes.. (vette5)
I had the opposite ... my pedal was high, hardly any travel, and hard. My car is a '92 and I believe the brake fluid was never changed. It was dark and thick. I cleaned the reservoir refilled it with new fluid, Valvoline Syntec, and vacuum bled my system. This was the first time
I used a vacuum bleeder and found that not only was it a one-man operation but it did a very nice job.
After replacing the fluid my brake pedal had more travel and I discovered that prior to the fluid replacement my back brakes were not doing much braking. The brakes work better then they ever have since owning the car for three years.
Brian
I used a vacuum bleeder and found that not only was it a one-man operation but it did a very nice job.
After replacing the fluid my brake pedal had more travel and I discovered that prior to the fluid replacement my back brakes were not doing much braking. The brakes work better then they ever have since owning the car for three years.
Brian
