Brake troubles, need help.

[Guest]

I have a 69 with 4 drums. I was backing up in low range today and almost backed into my trailer! The pedal went to the floor. I have a full master cylinder and dont see any major leaks. It does lose some out of the top of the master cylinder all the time but not a huge amount? Could the gasket on the lid cause poor brake performance?
Or could it just be the auto adjusters not working and it was coincedence? It seemed to get a little better after I backed up and stopped a few times.


?

 

[76BroncoSport]

I'm pretty sure it's not from the top of the M/C not being sealed very well.

 

[jims66]

It's time to replace the master cylinder. It is leaking internally past the cups.

 

[moabers]

It may be that your brakes are all out of adjustment. The auto adjusters never quite keep up, and especially with your comment about it seeming to improve after backing up and applying the brake a few times. With 4 wheel manual drum brakes, when the brakes are all adjusted correctly, your pedal shouldn't move more than 1/2"-1" Max, and be as hard as a rock.
Making sure that all your brakes are adjusted is always the first step. If that doesn't work, then JIMS66 is the next step.

Good luck!

 

[Nuke]

[quote author=Al link=board=5;threadid=15956;start=0#msg121020 date=1049340102]
It seemed to get a little better after I backed up and stopped a few times.
[/quote]

Backing up and stopping is how the brakes automatically adjust.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the tips gang, ill try to adjust em.
You dont suppose the thing IS leaking past itself in the master cylinder and that is whats causing brake juice to come out the top of the resivour?

Thanks again