Greetings all. I'm now in the posession of a loaner truck from a good freind of mine who wants to sell me this truck. My 1988 Chevy Diesel is once again sitting in the driveway "LIKE A ROCK" as the advertising slogan says. This 1982 Ford F-250 is pretty solid and the engine runs great and the tranny shifts well. The problems that I hope someone here can help me with:

1. The instrument panel "BRAKE" warning light is on: I think its the brake booster, but i havent gotten outside yet to look for fluid leaks. The brakes work pretty well but the brake pedal starts to sloooooowly head for the floor as you sit in gear at a traffic light etc. Does the warning light signal worn out pads or something else??

2. Power steering line is loose: is there supposed to be an "O" ring in there to make the connection leak proof? or is the hose or fitting wrong? The connections (nut) seems tight at the pump, but the hose can be easily moved around (twisted).

3. Belt for the power steering is quite loose but the pump seems to be at the end of the adjusters. The adjuster seems to be a bit tweeked from previous attempts at keeping the belt tight.

4. Door latches seem to work poorly: Drivers door rattles pretty badly!

I'm a truckdriver and only have a few days or "tinker time". I have to fix a headlight and other minor things...just looking for a head start!

Fozzy

 

1. The instrument panel "BRAKE" warning light is on: I think its the brake booster, but i havent gotten outside yet to look for fluid leaks. The brakes work pretty well but the brake pedal starts to sloooooowly head for the floor as you sit in gear at a traffic light etc. Does the warning light signal worn out pads or something else??

Pull the cover off the master cylinder and check the fluid levels. If one chamber is really low or empty, you have a leak in the system somewhere. If you don't see any fluid leaks behind the wheels or along the frame, then the master cylinder is probably bad, especially if it looks damp around the brake booster behind the master cylinder.

2. Powersteering line is loose: is there supposed to be an "O" ring in there to make the connection leak proof? or is the hose or fitting wrong. The connections (nut) seems tight at the pump, but the hose can be easily moved around (twisted).

Yes there is an o-ring in there. If it's not leaking, don't worry about it. The o-ring can be replaced if it is leaking.

3. Belt for the powersteering is quite loose but the pump seems to be at the end of the adjusters. The adjuster seems to be a bit tweeked from previous attempts at keeping the belt tight.

Try a new belt. Get the numbers off the belt, and then tell the store what truck you have, and see what they give you. If they give you a different number, then that may be the problem. If it's the same number, stretch them out and see if the old one is wore out. If the new belt is going to be too long, buy one about 1/2" shorter(it doesn't take much).

4. Door latches seem to work poorly: Drivers door rattles pretty badly!

Open the door and lift up on it to see how much play is in the door hinge pins. Also look where the hinges bolt to the door. They may have got the door caught on something at one time, and bent the area where the hinge bolts on(been there, done that on a snow bank).

 

Well there is plenty of brake fluid in the master cylinder <sp> but it sure looks "muddy". The whole master cylinder is wet from fluid but this could be from the friend's bro in law poured fluid in. I'll tinker with it and may just replace the master cylinder tomorrow. I'm wondering where the fluid is going though?? and if the fluid is not low why the "idiot light" is still on?

The power steering "leak" is more like a "flow" there is definitely nothing in there..but there was a thunderstorm which dumped about 8 inches of nickle sized hail on us and things are a bit damp to go out and play with it..

The door post looks to me to be worn out. on freightliner trucks it was common for them to wear out. the metal part is covered with rubber which then has a metal "sleeve" over that which the latch grabs onto..no rubber and the doors slap around and make a lot of noise..I'll look at the trusty autozone...if there darn site will work better than it was this AM.

Thanks for the reply!

Fozzy

 

a simple check on the brake light...make sure the emergency brake pedal is returning all the way up, they have a tendency to sag when the cable gets out of adjustment which then causes the brake light to stay on. just reach down and pull up the pedal & see if the light goes out.

with the pedal problem it sounds like something more major may be wrong w/the brake system though.

 

E-brakes didn't have a switch to turn on the light until '87, and boosters never did, so they're not the cause. If you look at the wiring diagram, you'll see that that light is ONLY triggered by the balance switch in the proportioning valve on the frame rail below the booster. The Haynes manual tells how to recenter the switch to turn the light off. It's tripped when there's a leak, causing more fluid to go either to the front or rear brakes, so look for the leak at the wheel cylinders (usually the rears).

You can get new door strikes at most parts stores, but I collect them in junkyards. I prefer OE.

 

But the warning light is on, The wheels are all "dry" the master cylinder's reservoir is full of fluid but the fluid is VERY murky and the master cylinder has a coating of oily sludge in the bottom of it??? Looks like oil or just grime?? I'm ready to just replace the mastercylinder, but will that actually fix the problem??

Trouble shooting in 90% humidity! LOL

 

i experienced the e-brake pedal light issue on both by '84 and '86. it was wired in to that light somewhere along the line pre-'87.

 

I've got the E-brake light problem as described on mt '85 too. On cold days it takes a good 3 trys releasing the E-brake and get the light to go out. I've gotta remember to adjust that cable!

 

No. The light is tripped by imbalance in the F&R brake systems. The Haynes manual tells how to fix it, and this site may also.

 

You're right - I didn't notice it in the '84-86 diagram, but that's when it appeared.

But it's not on the '82 in question.

 

Well, after putzing around and checking this and diddling that...the light is now off...The brakes still are not leaking fluid but still slowly loses "pedal". They pump up quickly but I think a good bleeding is in order...

Also got the broken starter bolt out of the Chevy..(mumble mumble mumble) I'm at a loss to figure out why its snapped off 3 bolts???? 6.2 deisel (I know ill get hollared at..for speeking the evil bowtie name..but I'm really confused!!!

 

"The brakes work pretty well but the brake pedal starts to sloooooowly head for the floor as you sit in gear at a traffic light etc. "

If you have no leaks, from the above description I would say the master cylinder is leaking internally.

 

Nope. A new master cylinder.

 

"the master cylinder has a coating of oily sludge in the bottom of it"

If you keep the current master cyclinder make sure to clean this crap out of it before you bleed the brakes or you will put all that stuff into the calipers, lines, etc.

 

Franky's right, this dude's got himself a bad master cylinder...