What does a vacum booster do when it goes out? I was on my delevarie route in my 85 150 300 last night, left a parking lot hit the brakes and whoosh i can hear air escaping when you hold the brake down , but i still have strong brakes .... since im working 2 jobs 7 days a week im a litlle short on time so how long can i gimp it , anyone know?

 

Yeah that sounds like a bad booster. Does the peddle go down to floor when sitting at a stop light? If so then it is bad, as far as how long, i couldn't really tell you as the booster in my 82 flareside is bad and has been for a while (about a year but i haven't been driving it a whole lot though other than this summer), hopefully someone else can chime in here and help out.

 

The booster is just an aide for the driver. It doesn't change how the brakes work, just how easy they work. If your brake pedal goes to the floor then I would look at the master cylinder. The booster is easy to change but like you said 2 jobs/7days leaves little time for fun. Mine was doing like you described for a year or more before I changed it out.

 

no it dosnt go to the floor when siting just sits and whistles , im going to drive it until i get a day off. Thanks

 

When a power brake vacuum booster goes bad it will make a noise normally heard from inside the cab sounding like a whoosh, or far* every time the brake pedal is applied. It typically does not make any noise at idle with no pressure on the pedal. It means the diaphragm is ruptured. When they compelely fail the pedal feels really hard, not soft and braking is more difficult. A remanufacutred power brake booster is around $90.00 US at most major auto parts store. They are very easy to change and you do not have to remove any brake lines or fuss with bleeding the brakes.