Brake pedal softness. Pushrod length, Speed Bleeders

Hey Dave66, I had the brakes adjusted last Friday. The problem was that I had to pump the brakes to get about 1/3rd pedal. After the adjustment, there is no brakes till the brake pedal is half way to the floor, then it is rock hard.

Some years ago, I had to replace the Master Cylinder, and found that someone had put a piece of wood dowel in between the rod that comes from the brake pedal, and the part that the rod would have pushed on. Well, I thought that a wood dowel was kind of MickyMouse, so I installed an aluminum rod of the same length. I've since come to the conclusion that if I put in an aluminum rod of about another 1.5" in length, that I'd get more pedal.

Now I'm reading about "adjustable" push rods. There's no adjustment of the brake push rod anywhere on the old 3.14159.

And I can live with rock hard brakes at half way to the floor.

BTW, with 3" drums all around, the old Gal stops REALLY well for a two ton automobile!
JCAllison

Originally Posted by FALCONAROUND

I MUST OBJECT!

If you have Brand new lines then that's ok, but if you have front brake flex lines and the rear flex lines that are more than a couple years old DO NOT DO IT!

The rubber and the fibergalss reinforcement fibers in those flex lines are very succeptable to cracking and splitting from the weather and age, and if you squeeze them you will compromise their ability to handle the pressures associated with the brake system.

But please don't compromise your safety that way.

Gary (*FE*)

Good info here. You do not put vice grips on a brake hose. If you suspect a bad MC, simply put plugs in the outlets and test that way.

In Addition:

Brake pedal height is dictated (if the MC pushrod is adjusted correctly) by rear brake adjustment.

Originally Posted by JCAllison

BTW, with 3" drums all around, the old Gal stops REALLY well for a two ton automobile!
JCAllison

3" drums will damn near stop a freight train

My little 2" X 7" Falcon brakes stop me as fast as necessary, and even faster with very little effort whatsoever...

The height of my pedal was good, it was the soft and then really firm that i didnt like.

Tomorrow i get the new master so hopefully its all good, if its still the same i will try and piece or dowel, if that fixes it i'll get an adjustable rod haha

If you Dowell it you are circumventing the soft spot...

The dowell only pushes the plunger deeper and does not let it come back to the fully open position.

The soft spot will still be there, you will just be starting the pedal travel past that spot...

If the integrity of the brake hose is suspect they should be replaced at this time. It is maybe wrong for me to assume that you replaced the hoses, but if you did not I would do them right now. If you want to plug the lines at the MC that will work also except it will not tell which one of the front wheels is the culprit. As far as pedal height being dictated strictly by rear brake adjustment, that is not entirely true. If there is air in the system anywhere, especially the front calipers you will NEVER get a decent pedal. An easy check is to rapidly pump the brakes. If the pedal improves significantly it is more than likely an adjustment. ( Like JC'S situation) If it does not, there is probably air trapped somewhere in the system.

I have a little more to discuss on this matter, but I have to go to work now.
To be continued....

[quote=FALCONAROUND;1381426]3" drums will damn near stop a freight train [quote]
Hey Gary, would you believe that I was doing a front brake shoe replacement, and had to have the front brake drums turned, and George Weis-h-i-t- said he couldn't do it because there wasn't enough metal left to be safe. BTW, I still have the old drums.

So I called Greg Donahue for front drums for the 3.14159.

Mr.D said: "How would you like to have finned aluminum drums on the front of that car?"

I replied: "It wouldn't be correct!"

He said:"Yes it would. The NASCAR parts were in the PI catalog that year."

I asked: "How much?"

He asked back: "Are you sitting down?"

(I knew I was in trouble right then and there!)

I said: "Yes!"

And he either said "$750.00 a pair", or "$750 each" (I don't remember which), "BUT", he added, "I'll guarantee that they will never fade!"

I had him send two cast-iron drums at $115.00 each.

My little 2" X 7" Falcon brakes stop me as fast as necessary, and even faster with very little effort whatsoever...

Well, you see? There you go!

JCAllison

Originally Posted by FALCONAROUND

If you Dowell it you are circumventing the soft spot...

The dowell only pushes the plunger deeper and does not let it come back to the fully open position.

The soft spot will still be there, you will just be starting the pedal travel past that spot...

that makes sense.

I took a close look at my calipers today and it seems [ i may be imagining this ] they are leaking from the bleeder hole, now im thinking maybe it wasn't the master, maybe the calipers are defective - which would explain the pedal being soft.

Whats going on with Napa !!!!

Either way, im getting another master and if the calipers are leaking i'll send them back too. . . . . . . . . . .i f-u-c-k-i-n hate brakes right now

they can be irksome