Brake help needed (1 Viewer)

[96 Bronco]

Alright, adjusted rear shoes out more until I couldn’t turn the drum by hand, bled (and got a little more air plus some fluid), and pretty much same thing.

In an attempt to isolate the issue, Next I cranked the rear proportioning valve closed and felt the pedal,...same. So I tried to bleed the rear again to check if the valve totally closed off the rear.... it must not because I still got fluid with it closed

Then I removed the front line from the master and covered it with a rag on my finger.... I definitely felt it pushing and had to resist pretty hard, but it didn’t blow my finger off. My helper remarked that the pedal got super soft during this trial

Not sure about the alternator question so I’m including a pic.

My starter does not have a fusible link,,,pic attached

Also attached a pic of the area in question with loose ground wire, the box on my firewall sounds eerily similar to your guys description of what is supposed to be there, but maybe an aftermarket or generic version

 

[Tancruiser]

I had this issue when I built my LV and finally replaced my MC with a big bore non abs 80 series mc and had no more issues.

 

[96 Bronco]

Bump. don't want this to die .... thought you guys were giving me some good info. Meanwhile before I pull the master and inspect (not really sure what to look for other than an o-ring that's bent or missing - I went ahead and ordered an air powered bleeder to make sure all the air is out of the lines. I've always wanted one anyways.

 

[Pin_Head]

I am waiting to hear about what the innards of the master look like and whether you put new ones in or replaced it with a new one before proceeding.

If you have copper brake likes as it looks in your picture, this is a bad idea. They break and leak. Same for copper fuel lines.

 

[96 Bronco]

alright. those are nickel copper lines - supposed to be the newest thing? they are certainly easy to work with

 

[Rainman]

NiCopp is perfectly good to use. Many of the European car makers are using it. It's DOT approved. That is NOT your problem.

 

[Coolerman]

That is an aftermarket voltage regulator so your alternator is a normal externally regulated unit. However DO ground that white/Black wire under a bolt on the firewall. That is the main cowl harness ground for things like the heater blower motor, headlights, wipers, and alternator. See the drawing... The wire is labeled E Regulator Z6A3 a LOT of stuff depends on that ground!

 

[96 Bronco]

Took pinheads advice and pulled the master. I bench bled it again and there was no air in the lines, but I feel like the stream was very weak. There’s no noticeable turbulence in the reservoir when pumping , and when I pull a line up to observe the flow it is not impressive. So, I ordered a new master from local parts place... they have the same one for pretty cheap so it’s worth a shot

 

[96 Bronco]

Since you guys were nice enough to offer help I'm going to return the favor and keep updating this thread until i get it resolved - hopefully to help someone later. I replaced the master and still had the same issues, so I blocked off 1 port at a time to isolate the problem to either front or rear. The problem is in the rear. So, I left the rear port of the master blocked off and drove the FJ around for a good 2-3 weeks with just front disc brakes - it was fine but still had a soft pedal. After multiple tries at diagnosing the issue in the rear I gave up and took it to a shop. they went through the whole system and determined that the rod from the booster to the master needed to be adjusted out 1/4" in order to get enough fluid to the rear. my booster is a new rebuilt unit from NAPA for a 87 Toyota truck. the adjustment rod is froze so i am currently dealing with NAPA trying to get it replaced. the shop gave me the FJ back with the rear brakes hooked up and working, just a soft pedal. Still stops fine but I don't follow closely at all - i can't really with that 1F engine anyway, but that's another problem!

 

[96 Bronco]

Well I've been driving the FJ pretty much daily since February and all is ok- acceptable. Brake pedal still engages at mid stroke but stopped fine. In the course of diagnosing some transmission issues i had the vehicle on jack stands with it running and running it through the gears. When I hit the brakes my front wheels stopped immediately but my back wheels don't stop at all. This makes sense to me because my rear shoes were not engaging the drums therefore I did'nt have full pedal. I resigned to one day do a rear disc conversion and went on about life. All was fine. Now, couple days ago when coasting in neutral off the freeway ramp i felt a dragging. When i hit the brakes now the pedal engaged at the VERY TOP and my brakes were SUPER responsive. It felt like race car performance brakes. I parked the car and went in for dinner. I was going to adjust the shoes inward a bit, but after cooling down i went to move the car to my shop and the brakes were back to normal? Now i drove in to work again, 30 minute drive, and near the end of the drive the brakes got real sticky again, pedal engaged at the very top, and there was a slight dragging again. any ideas? just switch to rear disc?

thanks