breaking issues

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usmcruiser

usmcruiser

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Joined
Oct 6, 2004
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82
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Location
Longmont, CO
Well my '76 FJ55 is having some breaking issues. I thought I simply had air in the line but after bleeding out the entire system they breaks are still very mushy. When you depress the break you can hear a "woosh" sound. when we were bleeding them the fronts bled fine. but when we were bleeding the rear we had to triple pump them to build up any pressure. even when there wasn't any air in the system to get any fluid to spurt out of the rear they had to be triple pumped.

any ideas what could be causing the soft breaks?

Thanks all,
 
red cruiser said:
Time for a new master Nick.
Click to expand...

I am not saying you are wrong Chris, but I just wonder how you came to the conclusion and not the booster? Maybe because it was just the rear that we had to pump. But I would still like to see your thought process written out.

Thanks for humoring me :grinpimp:
 
Always happy to humor you Gunnar. Put your foot on the brake, start it up and you'll feel the booster work. If not maybe it is the booster.

Remember, I was sure my clutch slave was bad, replaced it only to find it was the master. Be careful listening to me. :o
 
If you here a whoosh, it's the booster.
mushy brakes is a master. Or a wheel cylinder, or a leaky brake line, or ...
A bad booster will give you a harder pedal, mushy is another problem.
 
Pighead said:
If you here a whoosh, it's the booster.
mushy brakes is a master. Or a wheel cylinder, or a leaky brake line, or ...
A bad booster will give you a harder pedal, mushy is another problem.
Click to expand...

hmm so it could be a combination of issues. bad booster and master? list is getting longer and more expensive. :doh:
 
While I agree, a 32 year old master may be a problem, another thing to check (I'm ASSuming the 1976 FJ55 has rear drums?) is that the rear wheel cylinders are adjusted correctly. The shoes need to be barely dragging on the drum. If they are not, then you are having to pump the brakes to get fluid to the cylinders to push the shoes outward enough to engage the drum. Never hurts to check... ;)
 
Coolerman said:
While I agree, a 32 year old master may be a problem, another thing to check (I'm ASSuming the 1976 FJ55 has rear drums?) is that the rear wheel cylinders are adjusted correctly. The shoes need to be barely dragging on the drum. If they are not, then you are having to pump the brakes to get fluid to the cylinders to push the shoes outward enough to engage the drum. Never hurts to check... ;)
Click to expand...

Yes it does have rear drums, and I had not thought about that. But also I dont know how to adjust the rear drums. Does anyone have a "manual" or a good book that breaks things down barney style for me. After all I am a Marine...:D
 
Not much to it. There are two cylinders on each wheel. There will be an adjuster both in front of and behind the axle in the backing plate. Turn each till the wheel locks and can't be turned, then back off three clicks. (you'll do this two times on each wheel, once for each adjuster). If the adjusting wheel is locked up and can't be turned, it's time to rebuild or replace wheel cylinders, or, personally, I'd go for a rear wheel disc conversion. Any money spent on drums is a step in the wrong direction. I'd only use factory parts for brakes, and they're quite expensive. Check your shoes before you go to the trouble to adjust.
 
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