Hi, the brakes of my newly bought '68 Ford Country Squire do not work the way they should. Brake pedal play is generally big, and when I stop at a red light I have to push the brake pedal further and further down to keep standing still, until it is practically and literally maybe an inch from pedal to the metal. On two occasions the car actually started rolling while stopping at a red light with transmission in D, even though I kicked the brake pedal right down to the metal. Looks like there is not enough brake pressure. I could not find and leakage of brake fluid, at least not on the outside of the master cylinder. The car has disc brake and a power brake booster as standard. Any advice on what might be the cause of this problem, and how to fix it? Thanks folks!
Yes, it sounds like the master cylinder, not the brake booster. If it were the brake booster, the brakes would be hard to press, since you would be losing the power brake system. My wagon was doing the same thing, and replacing the master cylinder fixed it. It was a pretty easy fix, only took an hour or two.
Of course finding a power brake 58 Ford master cylinder in Hamburger may not be as easy as it is for people in Sinsinatti with a dozen auto parts stores. I've had the pedal slowly go down when a master cylinder is failing.
If the booster was bad the pedal would not move hardly at all like you were stepping on a brick with MAYBE and inch of movement up top. Master cyl is bad as said by others. I bet if you unbolt it from the booster it will be leaking/seeping out he back.
Master cylinder Thank you all folks! My guess was also the master cylinder, and a new one is on its way to me from the US. Only takes four days at a reasonable price. And of course I will not drive the car until it is fixed.
Since it sounds like they've been doing this and it's not a new issue, could it be air in the lines? If you're sure there is no leak, then perhaps the last owner didn't bleed properly.
Air in the lines would allow him to pump the brake pressure back up, with a large amount of pedal movement. What he describes is a bad M/C, IMHO.
One thing that can happen is a vacuum leak, and it sucks the brake fluid out of the master cylinder and into the booster. It can also give that same symptom. It happened to a friend on his 79 Thunderbird. No leak in the brakes, but the fluid kept disappearing. Finally figured it out. When we took off the booster, it weighed a good 5 or 7 kilograms! Almost a litre of fluid in the thing. It meant a rebuilt booster as well as a new master cylinder.
New Master We have now changed the master cylinder and it turned out it has been leaking fluid into the booster. Brake pressure is back again, and for safety I am renewing the booster too, as the aggressive fluid has started to start the booster to rust from the inside. I will do a careful test drive this weekend.
