HJ60 brakes acting wierd... (1 Viewer)

[pilotsareplanecrazy]

this is a cross-post from the FJ60/62 board, it was suggested I ask here as it may be an issue with diesels only.

Today, the brakes in my HJ60 have been acting wierd. It's almost as if it's not holding vacuum. When I first pump the brakes, the pedal is dead, but the more i pump, the more firm the pedal gets. Then, as i drive, it looses it's firmness.

When I first noticed this problem, I noticed the parking brake was dead, wasn't doing a thing. I pumped the brakes trying to build pressure, and now it is terribly hard to pull up and has a really jerky motion. The only thing I can relate it to is the feeling you get with a hand saw skipping across wood.

The possible things that caused this, that I can think of are:

1) I was test fitting a bracket for my A/C compressor, handed it to my friend, and he set it directly on to the battery. It connected the frame with the positive terminal. Sparks and smoke shot out of both batteries, and smoke came from the rear passenger side of the engine bay. The only thing i could find back there that the smoke came from are some hydroliv lines that I think are the brake lines.

2) I checked the brake fluid and removed the cap. I am thinking that maybe it is not making a seal again, no matter how well I think I am getting a good seal.

It has been suggested to check the brake booster which will happen tongiht. Anyone have any other ideas of what would cause this?

 

[crushers]

you could have burnt a pin hole in the brake line if that recieved the voltage. check for wetness along the brake lines.

the brake caps vent and even if you had no cap on the system would still work.

personally i would not drive this unit till you got the problem fixed...

 

[pilotsareplanecrazy]

I have another car that I am using in the mean time. I'll check for leaking again when I get home.

 

[VTCruiser]

for what its worth, i had strange ebrake and pedal problems on my HJ when i had rear drum issues.

in my case, the rear drum adjusters and and ebrake pivot hammers were malfunctioning. When the problem started, my pedal went to the floor and needed to be pumped to build pressure. It was tempermental and only happened sometimes. I assumed it was a master cyl issue so i bought one as a back up. Then I noticed the the ebrake was sticking on one side which led to a new set of problems. To make a long story shorter, i gave it rear brakes, fixed the adjuster issue and free'd up the ebrake hammers. I haven't had a problem since. The master cylinder is still sitting in th box.

moral of the story- check small stuff first. pull the drums off and inspect the rear shoes, cylinders and adjuster. improperly adjusted drums can disturb pedal feel. And (as mentioned before) look for and line leaks.

 

[Satamax]

Hi everybody!

Pilot, have you run out of brake fluid lately? Well, i have the same kind of problem, that would sound like a vacuum problem. First i'd try to bleed the master cylinder. Then the rest of the lines etc!

 

[beanz2]

Agree with Wayne, leaking brake line where the bracket contacted the line. From the way the parking brake acted, it could be the rear brake circuit. Put a piece of tissue or toilet paper where the bracket touched the line, you should see where the burn marks were, and pump the brakes and see if it gets wet from brake fluid.

Dave

 

[pilotsareplanecrazy]

The braket only touched the radiator support and the positive battery terminal. It didn't touch the brake line anywhere. I am wondering if this is all jsut a coincidence and the master cylinder just died.