 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / June 2005Brake pedal travel
'89 Grand Marquis, front disc / rear drum. For maintenance, I changed front pads and changed the brake fluid. Now, pedal is firm and stopping is good, BUT... first press on the brake gives low but firm pedal, stopping is strong until the last few feet, then it feels like the transmission is fighting the brakes. If I press, release, then press the brake pedal again, travel is less, pedal is firm and stopping is better. If I press, release, press, release, then use the brakes, the pedal is nice and high and firm, and the stopping is just wonderful. At any of the three pedal depths above the pedal is firm and does not sink when pressing the brake pedal hard. What's doing this? I did notice something like this before I changed the brake fluid, but the fluid was so bad that the sponginess made it hard to identify.  SignatureI miss my .signature. Any possibility the old brake fluid was contaminated, such as the common mistake of someone adding p/s fluid to top off, seen this many times. There is a way to check if there is oil in the m/c usually after time the seal on the cover shrivels up and there is another test, post back if you can sample the old fluid. > '89 Grand Marquis, front disc / rear drum. For maintenance, I changed > front pads and changed the brake fluid. Now, pedal is firm and stopping [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > I did notice something like this before I changed the brake fluid, but > the fluid was so bad that the sponginess made it hard to identify. This sounds like classic misadjusted rear drum brakes. Maybe there is something to check there. Brian > Any possibility the old brake fluid was contaminated, such as the common > mistake of someone adding p/s fluid to top off, seen this many times. [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption > =---- Yup, 2nd the misadjusted rear brakes. give the adjuster a spin and I bet the problem goes away. SignatureAlan Gallacher Born to Tinker! > This sounds like classic misadjusted rear drum brakes. Maybe there is > something to check there. [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >> ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption >> =---- > Any possibility the old brake fluid was contaminated, such as the common > mistake of someone adding p/s fluid to top off, seen this many times. There > is a way to check if there is oil in the m/c usually after time the seal on > the cover shrivels up and there is another test, post back if you can sample > the old fluid. I have the old fluid in a clean gallon milk bottle in the garage. I doubt it's contaminated, as the car was meticulously maintained before I got it (and since :-), but it's worth checking. SignatureI miss my .signature. Clifto, if there is oil mixed with the fluid you will see an emulsion or seperation of the 2 fluids, get the fluid in a clear container and let it settle then take a look, but yeah Brian is on track with rear brake adjustment suggestion. >> Any possibility the old brake fluid was contaminated, such as the common >> mistake of someone adding p/s fluid to top off, seen this many times. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > doubt it's contaminated, as the car was meticulously maintained before > I got it (and since :-), but it's worth checking. > '89 Grand Marquis, front disc / rear drum. For maintenance, I changed > front pads and changed the brake fluid. Now, pedal is firm and stopping [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > -- > I miss my .signature. If proper bleeding doesn't fix the problem, I would suspect a bad master cylinder. Push down VERY LIGHTLY on the pedal with the engine running -- just barely enough to create the slightest hydraulic pressure. Wait and see if the pedal sinks to the floor under this condition. If so, put a rebuilt master cylinder on it. Even MCs that are going bad will stay firm if you mash on the pedal. Toyota MDT in MO |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.