brakes help
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Senior User
Joined: Jun 2010
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From: Western Mass
brakes help
I'm going to finally address my brakes and actually fix the problems.
The pads/drums are all good Blueovalbud and I did all that stuff a few months ago but there is something else wrong.
There is a leak somewhere i think. The front reservoir in the master cylinder needs to get topped off every few weeks depending on how much I drive, also the pedal has alot of give. the truck stops but not well and I dont get much response until the pedal is depressed pretty far. I think i also still need to adjust my rear brakes a touch which should help.
I'm just wondering where i should start to figure out where my leak is and if that could be the cause of my not so good brakes.
The pads/drums are all good Blueovalbud and I did all that stuff a few months ago but there is something else wrong.
There is a leak somewhere i think. The front reservoir in the master cylinder needs to get topped off every few weeks depending on how much I drive, also the pedal has alot of give. the truck stops but not well and I dont get much response until the pedal is depressed pretty far. I think i also still need to adjust my rear brakes a touch which should help.
I'm just wondering where i should start to figure out where my leak is and if that could be the cause of my not so good brakes.
Cargo Master
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,230
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From: Higginsville, MO
now the leak should be clearly visible. brake fluid tends to make things shiny and noticeable... the joint where the line goes from the frame rail down to the splitter for the rear brakes leaked and blew before i got mine on the road... likes to rust through back there for some reason
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From: Western Mass
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Western Mass
The front and rear reservoirs should feed the two brake circuits separately. However, I don't recall if the front is for front brakes, and rear is for rear brakes... Should be easy enough to trace them and see. If only part is going dry, than you have a leak in that part of the circuit. Check around and look for leaks, the fluid is going somewhere, and when you find it, you can start fixing the real problem (though there may be more than one problem)
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From: Western Mass
On thinking a bit more, and remember when one of my rear cylinders went, I had a very smooshy pedal. It would stop, but need to get near the bottom of the pedal travel before anything really happened. I figured out pretty quick what the problem was, but had to drive for like a week waiting for parts and time to do it. Not the safest thing to do, but the fronts still worked after the pedal went far enough. I'd say fix the leak, then lets see how things feel.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Mi'kma'ki
On thinking a bit more, and remember when one of my rear cylinders went, I had a very smooshy pedal. It would stop, but need to get near the bottom of the pedal travel before anything really happened. I figured out pretty quick what the problem was, but had to drive for like a week waiting for parts and time to do it. Not the safest thing to do, but the fronts still worked after the pedal went far enough. I'd say fix the leak, then lets see how things feel.
i had the crappy brakes and slowly loosing fluid,but the dang thing didn't blow out enough for me to see the leak until a week latter.replaced both,and like brand new again.
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From: Western Mass
I had a wheel cylinder leak in the back. I think I originally noticed it as a tiny leak on the backing plate. Then it decided to let loose big time, as in the pedal went most of the way down before doing anything. Round about that time the axle seal went on that side too. I honestly don't know which happened first, but oil soaked brakes shoes and a leaking cylinder mean it was stopping only with the front brakes at reduced pressure.
At some point I also replaced the master cylinder. That did more of a fix on the sinking pedal, but did firm up the pedal a little bit too. However, unless the master cylinder is leaking into the vacuum booster, the fluid level will remain the same. One way the master cylinder fails is to allow the brake fluid to seal past the seals internally, much like if the rings to a piston go in your engine, the compression ends up in the crankcase instead of on top of the piston, but it doesn't 'leak' outside of the motor (at least not directly, kind of a bad comparison but I think it gets the point across.)
At some point I also replaced the master cylinder. That did more of a fix on the sinking pedal, but did firm up the pedal a little bit too. However, unless the master cylinder is leaking into the vacuum booster, the fluid level will remain the same. One way the master cylinder fails is to allow the brake fluid to seal past the seals internally, much like if the rings to a piston go in your engine, the compression ends up in the crankcase instead of on top of the piston, but it doesn't 'leak' outside of the motor (at least not directly, kind of a bad comparison but I think it gets the point across.)
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