Blown77Z Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Tonight I thought I would tackle the task of taking out my brake booster to see if the reaction disk had fallen out of place since I was having some brake issues; good brakes when car is off and sloppy brakes when car is on. When I finally got the booster off the firewall I tried shaking it to see if I could hear anything bounce around in it and some fluid came out of the vacuum nipple. I must have drained at least a 1/2 qt of brake fluid from that damn thing My question is should I go ahead and buy a remanufactured one or try to drain the rest of the fluid out and try the old one? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsun40146 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 If you have fluid in you booster then you have no choice, its time for a new booster. The diaphram in that booster is made for vaccume, when brake fluid comes in contact with it will most of the time destory it. Your in luck however the booster is an easy part ot change, I would say 2 hours at most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsun40146 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 If you need and help, tips or questions answered just PM me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 Thanks for the reply. I figured the booster was toast when I poured about a 1/2 qt of black fluid from it I'm going to order me a new booster today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 I got the remanufactured booster installed tonight and tested out the brakes again. I'm still not happy with the feel of the brake pedal. With the car ON the pedal will go down about 1.5 to 2 inches or so then start to grab. With the car OFF the brakes get rock hard after 3-4 pumps. With the car ON I tested the brakes again without the vacuum hose attached and the pedal was rock hard and would barely move... I shook the booster before I put it on and didn't hear the reaction disk bouncing around. I measured the adjustment rod on both units and they were VERY close in measurement, but I could go back and recheck the clearance between the rod and MC. Could there just be more air in the line/MC that I haven't bled yet or is having about 1.5 to 2 inches of pedal throw "normal" ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 If you have a fluid in your brake booster it is from your master cylinder. So I would first replace that. Then the reason your brake is soft with the engine is on is because you are using a vacuum assisted brakes so it more than doubles the pressure you could do by your self. So either a. you have air in the lines and air compresses with alot of force or b. you're brake lines are cracked and are expanding because of this. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 The MC is also new, I replaced that before I found the fluid in the booster. I'm thinking there is still some more air in the MC or lines themselves. I'm going to do another round of bleeding the MC and all 4 corners...again, ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsun40146 Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Well when I upgraded my brakes I had about an inch or two in brakes as well. The first thing I did was to adjust the pushrod length, this helped a bit until I made it too long and it locked the font brakes after about a mile. The next thing I did after I adjusted the rod back was to check my lines and bleed my brakes again. They all checked out fine, so I sat in thought for a bit and went AH HA! I checked my rear drums and sure enough they were low on pad life and not adjusted. Normally this would not affect the pedal throw very much, but my rear brakes were not adjusting themselves. 1. This is what you should try; buy a drum brake adjustment tool or a small screwdriver. 2. Remove your rear tires after you jack up the rear of your car. 3. Next remove the rubber plug from the bottom backside of the drum. 4.After that place your "Tool" into that hole and feel for a star wheel, you'll place your tool against that and lever up to tighten up the rear drums. (I think its up it may be down you’ll have to check) 5. You should know that your drums are adjusted correctly if when you turn the wheel with a light force, they should come to a stop in about 1 to 1.5 turns. IE your drums should be VERY lightly dragging. If you find like I did that you cannot adjust your brakes enough its time to replace your rear brakes. Get your drums resurfaced and buy new pads and install. I found this helped by pedal feel SO much, my brakes barely have any play in them and they are firm just like I wanted them to be. If you want to know what I upgraded my brakes to just check my signature. EDIT: You can adjust your drums another way, put your car into reverse and start moving to about 10 mph, then pull your e-brake until you come to a stop, do this several times. This will adjust your brakes, but I recommend the manual way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 datsun40146, thanks for that thought! I had been thinking about my brake setup and my drums are the ONLY thing I haven't touched since I started trying to fix the brakes. The drums were my next step. Thanks again for thatr little tip, I'll try that here soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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