Help me!!!! well....they were fine the day before..but today they go all the way to the ground and i have to pump them like 5 times for them to work! i need to do somthing soon cuz i need my car for work. i dont know how to bleed my brakes eiter..any help would be greatly appreciated. thanx guys!-james
Did you have any work done on your brakes lately? If not, it may not be air in the lines. If you are not leaking brake fluid anywhere , such as the brake lines or the wheel cylinders, then the master cylinder has given out. When the valve in the master cylinder fails, the brake fluid can no longer get to the brakes. That happened to me once with my Mustang. I had brakes one day and the next day they were gone. I just had to run into the drug store, and I did. Quite literally I might add.
When I was 16 I worked at a gas station. The owner told me to bring in a 65 Mustang we had to work on. It was a 289 4spd car. VROOM VROOM!!! He didnt tell me it was there to replace a broken brake line. (he thought I knew, I didnt) I didnt hit the brakes until I was right in front of the rack. Luckly the kick ups on the end of the rack slowed my foward motion but still ended up in the work benches. The SOB fired me, can you believe it?
jean is right on the money on this one. It sounds definetly like the master cylinder. Like she said, check every where for leaks. If you don't have leaks, just replace the master brake cylinder and bleed the system. that should work
Brakes First off James, this is a serious safety item that needs to be fixed now!! I suggest that if you need this car for everyday driving, get it to a good brake shop and have them fix your problem. If you want to do it yourself you must first remove all four wheels and drums, look for leaking fluid on the brake shoes and backing plates. Peel back the lip on each wheel cyl. rubber boot and see if any fluid runs out, if all is dry then the master cylinder is at fault. Bleeding the system after repacement of any brake components in the hydraulics is usually done by two persons, one presses the brake pedal down and holds it while the other opens the bleeder valve located on the back of each wheel cyl. closing it before the pedal is released, then repeat this until no air bubbles are present. One man can do the job with a piece of rubber hose attached to the bleeder valve and stuck into a jar of brake fluid, this allows you to pump and release the pedal without having to close the valve each time it is released because you will be drawing fluid back into the system each time. There is more involved than space allows to exsplain here but a Chilton or other manual can show you how to do it. Best advice is get it done now! by someone in the know, is well worth the slight amont of money involved.
first, to make it easier upon yourself, check the master cylinder fluid level BEFORE you go taking your wheels off. if it is low or empty, then you have yourself a leak ya need to find.. check your wheel cylinders first, which can be done without taking off your wheels also, just fill the resevoir, pump your brakes 10 or 15 times REAL hard, then look at the backs of the wheels, if the backs are wet, you may have a hose to master cylinder issue , or a shoddy bleeder valve. if the whole insides of the wheel wells are covered in brake fluid, you have a hose problem, if the fluid has formed a puddle under the wheel, that is coming from between the drum and the backing plate, then it is your wheel cylinder.. if your engine bay or around your rear end is all soaked, it may be a problem with the proportioning valves(where the 2 lines from the master go to before they branch out nto 3 lines, another one in back located above rear end ) which sucks because ford rivited these to the firewall and undercarriage.. if no fluid leaks and the pedal is still real loose, it's your master cylinder. one other problem it could be is the pedal arm/master cylinder pushrod connection, which i doubt it could be, seeing as how the breaks still work if you pump em 4 or 5 times, but ford only uses a crappy cotter pin to hold this together. IF it is your master cylinder, and you go to replace it yourself, you'll want to bench bleed it first, and have someone help ya connect the new pushrod and brake pedal arm.. need TINY hands to get that done easily.. I jsut rebuilt my entire braking system, one piece at a time...this is all from hands on knowledge, rather then what a book will tell ya.. hope it helps
Another tip -- if your back brakes aren't working because they're way out of adjustment - it will feel the same way. Mine were exactly the same, I had to pump them 3 or 4 times to get a firm pedal and real braking action. I had this happen recently, and didn't figure out that it was the left-rear brake being way out of adjustment that was causing it until after I had bled the brakes twice, replaced the rear wheel cylinders (which were leaking anyway..), bled again... replaced the master cylinder, bled again... you get the idea... Anyway, not saying that's what your problem is, but just something you should check before you replace everything.
One more thing you should make certain of is if you have contamination in your fluid. DOT 3 attracts water and has a finite life. I had a problem with my Subaru where the brakes were failing. I completely flushed out the brake system and refilled it with new fluid. They have worked just great ever since. It is hard to see the contamination, but new fluid is clear and after time it darkens considerably from use. You very well could have a master cylinder malfunction, but it is a good idea to flush out the system whatever the end cause is.
Lord zero---this sounds very confusing but really isn't too bad. Brakes can be very expensive---doing it yourself often will save you hundreds of dollers literally. However, this is NOT a do it yourselfer if you are not too handy with your car. Messing your brakes up accidently is not worth your life!
completley gone............. well. i bleed the system. i even took the master cylender off and inspected it. it seems to be working ok. i put it back on and bleed the system again....nothing. they dont even work at all now! i gotta figure out whats up. i live way out of town so its not easy to get it to a shop. what should my next step be? should i get a new mastrt cylender? if so...wich ones will work with my 76 mav?
if it won't work at all now, you might not have bled the brakes right. start off with the pass rear, then do driver rear, then pass front, then driver front. I am sure this has been covered, but when bleeding, have someone pump pump pump the brake pedal, then hold it down, then u crack the nut on the wheel cylinder loose, while the brake is still pressed down, then after the fluid/air squirts out, tighten the nut. Make sure he DOES NOT lift his foot off the brake until after you tighten thenut, or it will suck air into the system. repeat and repeat until you get no more air from each side, and never let the master cylinder run out of fluid. Also, there is a way to bleed the Master cylinder as well, which you likely have air in now that it has been taken off I would suggest just throwing a new master cylinder on it. I don't know what they cost anymore, but they used to be $30 or so. I am willing to bet replacing the Master cylinder will do the job. JUst taking it off and looking at it won't show you anything
If you have no pedal pressure at all, even after pumping, bleed them this way. Start with the right rear and open the bleeder screw. Have someone push the pedal to the floor and hold it there. Close the screw, then let up on the pedal. Repeat as many times as necessary untill you have a good stream of fluid comming out. Then go to the left rear and repeat. Then do the right front, and lastly the left front. At this point you should have pedal pressure so you can then do the pumping routine. Always check the master cylinder & keep it full.
