brake problems

[meatloafsandwich]

Hey all, so I finally got my 87 notchback running, it has been sitting in a guys yard for 4 years and when i bought it he said "it ran when I parked it, but the brakes feel a little funny" well when I looked they were all worn down almost to the metal. I bought new pads all the way around, put em in, bled them all, topped off the fluid and.......still go all the way to the floor, and sometimes the "brake" on the dash comes on, I pump the brakes and it goes off! the master cylander and booster look fairly new as does the proportioning valve. am I looking at having to bleed the master cyl? please let me know, I really want to get this thing tagged and on the road tomorrow

Thanks
Robert

[Fierofool]

Your proportioning valve may be the original.  For some reason, they seem to stay looking new.  I guess it's because they're well protected from weather. 

Hopefully you didn't press the rear pistons in without removing the emergency brake cable lever.  Doing so can damage the screw that sets the brakes.  The rear pistons should be turned in with a special tool. 

The proportioning valve can be a source of poor brakes, too.  There is a procedure to reset it by removing the sensor, and taking something and recentering the piston.

[Donster]

I had told Robert about the rear pistons last week, but I forgot to mention the EB cable lever, sorry

\D

[TopNotch]

The brake light sometimes coming on could be from the parking brake lever and not from the proportioning valve. The easiest way to tell is to remove the wire from the valve. If you still get the light, you know where it's coming from.
Does your parking brake work? A poorly adjusted parking brake will cause a low, soft brake pedal. Here is an adjusting procedure to try:
http://www.carquest.com/common/downloads/partsTechBrakeT1008.pdf

[meatloafsandwich]

Okay, so I did use the tool to screw in the piston, and I just happened to look at the Haynes manuel and found about the e brake, I bled the master cyl, then started on the brakes again, all was going well until the right rear blessed screw snapped off, I tried an extractor and it broke off in there. Long story short, I need a right rear caliper before I can go any further. Anyone wanna save me a trip to pull-a-part?

[Donster]

Sorry, that's one of the things I don't have anymore of.

\D

[meatloafsandwich]

okay new info, I called the guy I bought it from and he said that the master cyl. went out so he replaced the booster, master, AND proportioning valve, I asked him if he bench bled the master cyl. and he said "what do you mean? I made sure there was fluid in it befor I pushed the brakes" then he said they were spongey ever since. I think that when I get this caliper a good bleeding will help, another clue...when i push the brakes without the top on the master cyl. (without the motor running) should fluid shoot 4 feet in the air?? BTW..brake fluid tastes horrible!! PS. Don, thats cool, I am gonna try to call Dean tomorrow, and also see if anyone on here responds, I will be lookin for those doors pretty soon if no one else grabs em first.

[Fierofool]

Try Ashby at adfieros@aol.com  or call him at 770 six one three, three four five five.  He's in Loganville.  The closest one at pullapart is in Lithonia and that whole car was in bad shape.  I'd also consider Advance, Autozone or O'reilly's since you get a warranty and it's completely rebuilt.

And yes, fluid will shoot up into whatever's above it.  Eyes, nose, mouth, hair, ears.  What I'm wondering is how you managed to look down into the master cylinder while depressing the brake pedal.  Is your real name Longfellow?   It may still be a good idea to remove it and bench bleed it.

[meatloafsandwich]

HA! My foster son was the " brake man" I was loosening the lines. I will check that number tomorrow, advance only wants 55 so that is probably the best bet.

[85GT]

get plenty of brake fluid, I changed my master cylinder a few months ago and it took a lot of bleeding before the spongy feeling went away....

[Donster]

Meatloaf,
She's looking good, keep at it, but take care of that leak, our daughter complained about the puddle in our driveway, mainly because we made her wash it away.

And welcome to the club dude!

[meatloafsandwich]

Thanks Don, sorry about the puddle, it was a long ride, she had to pee:( found the leak too, apparently, there are a couple of pointy pieces of plastic on the back of the fan housing and when the previous owner bumped whatever they bumped, it pushed back everything to the point that one of those pieces rubbed a hole in the lower hose. She is probably gonna be parked til this weekend anyways so new hoses should do it