Jimbro - sorry I did not see your reply. I am going to try to figure this out again and appreciate your thoughts...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbro727
Without the booster, does the pedal feel good, as in how it should feel with the booster, or good as in how it should feel without the booster? Without the booster, my pedal feels a little bit harder than it should with the booster. Have you tried braking without the booster? Maybe back it out of the garage with the vacuum unhooked and see if the brakes are good. Mine aren't without the booster, in fact, it makes things more difficult, because the pedal is harder, and I have to press it almost to the floor to get it to stop from a roll.
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On mine, I bleed the brakes, and with no booster, the pedal feels like I would expect. The pedal travels maybe a half inch, then firms up pretty solid. I have not tried driving this way, but expect it will stop with a lot of pressure. Your observation that it won't stop with no booster, yet feels firm, seems odd???
On mine, with no booster and a firm pedal, the front calipers are getting squeezed hard, as I can literally see the brackets move and hear some strain. But I'm not sure about the back, as it has a new posi and is a little stiff to rotate the rear axle and check.
Then, when I start the car and drive, it is obvious the booster works, reducing the pedal pressure required, and making the pedal travel a little farther, but it still stops and feels pretty solid - maybe an inch of pedal travel, but still pretty solid. Then, after repeated stops, the pedal gradually drops to near the floor before I get significant braking. After shutting the engine off, the pedal does not "recover"... it now goes nearly to the floor with no booster and acts the same with the engine back on and booster boosting. But it is definitely worse.
So on mine,
something changes after I get it bled, but there is NO fluid leak
that I have detected.
I will try the following next:
- bleed again and see if I get bubbles indicating air has leaked back in
- then verify my rear shoes are actuating and seem to have pressure against the drums
- look harder for signs of leaking
- I will try your suggestion and drive with no booster
So what can I conclude based on behavior with no booster? If it stays the same, then what? If it still deteriorates, then what?
I have a related question. In my repair book, it shows a gauge to verify the rod between booster and master is "correct" to allow full return of the master and avoid blocking some internal port. Do you know what the depth of the rod should be? I checked the pedal side, and there is definitely a little clearance before it "hits", so I think the pedal is OK. I am still not confident my master is fully returning with the booster "on", so how do I verify that? I am guessing the depth gauge effectively assures that, but is it possible I have a bad booster that is "always" boosting or something similar??