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New Problem - Brakes not working! Please help

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[ QUOTE ]
Michael,
The 2nd set of pictures were from the car in the driveway which was only 15-20 minutes.
--------------------------

Brandon--

Tough to tell from the pictures but what you describe as the large center leak looks simply like motor oil coming out of the bellhousing at the cotter pin--very common in Healeys that have not had rear main seals retrofitted. If so that should be anywhere from gold to black in color depending upon how long it has been since your oil has been changed.

If the front (small) leak is clear then brake fluid might be coming from the brake light switch union--a likely spot since there are four fittings. But you should should see more fluid somewhere than is shown on the ground in the photo.

I think he suspects the plunger because there is no pedal and you found no obvious leak. But since your first photos showed a low level of hydraulic fluid you need to do some problem-solving, preferably with one person on the pedal and another under the car.
 
He`s right Brandon I would check to see if there was fluid in the booster first. If there is none there then I would make sure that the master cylinder was working properly by loosning the line from it and holding a rag there to catch the fluid and have someone slowly pump the pedal and see if there is fluid coming out of the master cylinder line. If there was none there I would back up and make sure there was fluid from the resivoir to the master cylinder; again by removing the line and see if there is fluid going to the master cylinder. If I had fluid supply to the master cylinder and none out I would pull the master and rebuild it. Skip ( who is on first?)
 
[ QUOTE ]
Brandon I think Scot may be correct. i never thought of the booster as my car isn't equipt with one. Bob

[/ QUOTE ]

Brandon if the booster seals have failed just start the car and look at the exhaust you will have a volume of white smoke coming out of it.---Keoke- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
Keoke, I had a Chevelle that smoked (alot) on one side. I had only about 1000 miles on the engine scince a complete rebuild so I was concerned that I may have broke a ring. My Dad suggested I replace the Modulator Valve on the transmission. That fixed it, was sucking trans fluid into the engine. Is that what you are saying.. that the brake fluid can be sucked into the engine via vacuum? Bob.(never thought of that )
 
I think that is what Keoke was saying. But in my case I never got the smoke as a telltale sign! I think I would have eventually.
The brake fluid was at the bottom of the booster all right,but not enough of it was present to get pulled into the vacuum to create the smoke.
At that point I just removed and repaired the unit.

Cheers /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Yep guys, that was what Keoke was saying. Brake fluid in the vac canister will be sucked into the intake manifold and when burned will produce lots of white smoke.---Keoke- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
Was that how Q did the smoke screen on the Aston Martin? I have always wondered.
 
I just got back from working on the car. I jacked it up, then refilled the reservoir, and pumped the brakes. There were no visable leaks. I did this for a minute or two and did not find one leak. I lowered the car and repeated, again, finding no leaks (under the car or near the pedals). I took the car around the block and everything seemed fine. I got back, repeated the procedure and did not find any leaks. I was curious how to access to brake booster. I'm wondering if there could be a leak there that is not visable.

Thanks,
-Brandon
 
Brandon,

You have access to the bottom of the booster from under the right side of the car. As stated in my earlier post,from this position, loosen 3 or 4 of the bottom screws and pry the cannister open slightly with a screwdriver. If the brake fluid is there it will flow out so be careful.
When you go to pull the booster out, alot of things can be disconnected from the top of the unit.
If you need help with that, let us know.
Cheers,
 
[ QUOTE ]
Was that how Q did the smoke screen on the Aston Martin? I have always wondered.

[/ QUOTE ]

Im not sure that he followed my instructions Greg,but that is what I told him to do!---Keoke-- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Brandon, here's another possibility to consider. If the brakes where completely rebuilt recently and the car was never used much after the rebuild, it could be that the brake system was never bled completely. It is very easy to get an incomplete bleed, there-by still having air in the system. You may then seem to have a good pedal for a short ride or two, but then when the car sets awhile the air combines and consolidates in one area of the system and when you hit the pedal again, the pedal goes right to the floor. You should top off your resouvour and give the system a complete bleed to remove any air present. If there is not much air in the system, try first to pump the pedal many, many times and see if you get any pedal pressure back at all. If you do, then it is probably just too much air. Also, then, if you do a complete bleed, and get some pedal, and there is a leak, this will help you to find it. But try the pumping action first with a full resouvour to see if you can get any pedal back at all. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
I think the problem may have been what Vette described. That makes a lot of sense because. Once I filled the reservior, I got a lot of pressure back from the pedal. I drove the car around the block a few times and everything seemed fine. I'll take it for a ride this weekend and check everything again, but hopefully that was the problem.

Thanks!
 
Maybe I spoke to soon. I just went out to work on the car and noticed that the fluid in the reservoir was almost empty. There was only one tiny drop of fluid just to the right of the drivers side front wheel, but it was just a drop or two. I'm going to go check the brake booster and see what I can find.

Thanks,
-Brandon
 
Well, I've removed 3 of the screws, but am having a difficult time getting the other on the bottom out. However, I did try to pry it apart and while I couldn't get it completely apart, it was enough to see some fluid slowly creep out. Should there be any fluid in there at all?

Thanks!
 
Well, I'm pretty sure its the brake booster. In the past few minutes, its slowly been leaking out fluid where I removed screws.

So now I'm try to remove the booster. I'm trying to disconnect the vacuum hose but I don't see how anyone can work there unless they have abnormally small hands. Any advice or suggestions on the removal of the booster would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Brandon,
Are you using some sort of workshop manual? If not, I would highly recommend using one before you remove the servo unit!
Basically what it will tell you is to remove the vacuum hose, unscrew the inlet and outlet pipe unions and remove 3 set bolts securing the servo to the bracket.
After you get it out you have 2 options: Buy a replacement servo unit or rebuild the original(I assume it's original).
I have not heard good things about people rebuiding it themselves.The kit costs $100 alone. You could have a pro do it for about $250(what I did). A new replacement will be in the $500-$600 range.
 
Scot,

I have a workshop manual that I used. I actually figured it out...I was trying to remove the vacuum hose from the servo instead of the other end. I got the booster out of my car now. How can we be sure that the unit is bad? Any recommendations for who can rebuild it? I wouldn't mind doing it myself, but if others have had problems, I'm sure I would as well.

Thanks,
-Brandon
 
How can we be sure that the unit is bad? Any recommendations for who can rebuild it?

Brandon,

If brake fluid has found it's way into the servo, the seals in it have been breached and will need to be rebuilt or replaced.
I used Power Brake Exchange in San Jose,CA.(800-322-1775) to do mine. They did an excellent job rebuilding, repainting and powder coating it.Cost was $235 last year.
Good luck.
 
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