brake booster questions

Topic: brake booster questions (Read 910 times) previous topic - next topic

brake booster questions

March 30, 2010, 10:54:30 PM

hey guys

would a brake booster off a 1985 v8 work on a 1984 v6 cougar?
and the above part has been sitting for years so would it be good?
the reason i ask is the brakes went to the floor today. and im thinking its the booster. about 2 months ago i had the car to the garage down the street and they said it needed a new master. now i almost always fix my own stuff, but hey it was like heavy snow and zero degrees. i have been finding some leaking on the ground and couldnt figure it out the fluid was clear looking. well today i found out why .... no brakes. the master was almost empty in the rear compartment. im going look better for the leak, but a quick look revealed nothing at the master. the past 2 days the engine light would flicker and light up sometimes, when you had it in drive but were at a stop, if you gave it the slightest gas it would not flicker.
any thoughts on this? im wondering now if it didnt need a master after all but a booster. also would it be more common for the check valve to go bad? i have never had this kinda brake problem before so i know very little about it. thanks for any help
eddie

brake booster questions

Reply #1 – March 30, 2010, 10:57:43 PM

A bad booster would usually create a hard pedal , an empty master and no pedal sounds like a bad master

brake booster questions

Reply #2 – March 31, 2010, 12:06:56 PM

thanks hypo
like i said i never have done this kinda brake work, just the standard rotors pads etc.
in january the master was replaced as i said, so i thought that it couldnt be that again,
i guess i will go back to the station , it is under warranty, but i dont want them to try to sell me a booster too thats why i asked. the brake pedal does get hard when the car is off, when you push it a few times, but when you start it up it goes down.
thanks i post the results.

brake booster questions

Reply #3 – March 31, 2010, 01:26:11 PM

The pedal getting hard when the car is off is normal , the booster works off engine vacuum, not running = no vacuum :D
Good luck !!

brake booster questions

Reply #4 – April 09, 2010, 11:50:24 AM

Just wanted to clarify something. The brake rod attached the the brake pedal which pushes on the diaphragm in the booster. There is a rod in the booster which in turn actuates the master cylinder. There is no brake fluid in the booster. If there is no fluid in the MC then you have an external leak somewhere which should be easy to spot. If there is a normal fluid level in your MC and the pedal is going to the floor then the internal seals in the MC are shot and letting fluid bypass around them.

I have had all three things happen to a car at one point or another so I just thought I would post with this to help others that read this thread.

Darren