OK well i recently did my brakes both front and rear. Front brakes are cylinder brakes
and they were a peice of cake. Rear brakes on the other hand are drum brakes and i almost shot myself trying to change em. I broke the springs on first try, bought new spings and its all ok. NOW I was going down a steep hill about 25 mph and there is an intersection on the bottom of the hill. I pushed down on the brake pedal gently to start slowing down. it worked for about 5 seconds and then insted of feeling firm, the pedal began to feel squishy. Im still rolling down the hill and i floor the brakes but im still just slowing down not stoping. Then near the bottom i pull my E brake and im still slowing down not stoping , so i pull that ****** as hard as i could and i slow down to a stop, scared the **** out of me. WELL when i baought the car the E, or Parking brake didnt work, since i have changed the shoes it works for parking on an incline but not nessisarily for stoping.

When my car is off the brakes feel solid, but as soon as i turn it on they become squishy. The brake fluid is not leaking because the resavoir is exactly the amount i had in it a month ago. The car is still driveable, when i brake i " Pump The pedal to build up pressure but i cant do that forever . What must i do? It feels like the brakes are just losing pressure.

 

Bleed your brakes.
If it still is a problem check the rear shoes install.

-billy

 

If bleeding does not fix it, it sounds like your master is bad - when was the last time it was cleaned or rebuilt? They can leak internally and you likely won't see any sign of failure except the pedal goes to the floor.

 

I will bleed em out soon then inspected thanks guys

 

Master can leak into the poer brake booster with no external signs also.

Plus make sure the rear drums are adjusted or you'll have squirelly brakes as well.

 

dont they adjust by themselves?

 

They *should* adjust themselves, if everything is assembled and working correctly. However, if they are not adjusted initally, they will take a long time to finish getting themselves adjusted, even when everything is working correctly.

Unless you have an SA, in which case the rear drums do not adjust themselves.

 

crap ill check em out

 

Even for FBs they do not adjust themselves. You have to adjust them. Check the FSM to be sure.

 

The FB's will adjust, assuming everything is assembled and working correctly. That's the entire purpose of the "Self Adjusters" and associated hardware.

 

Yeah, I don't recall if the self adjusters operate with the parking brake like some do, or when braking in reverse like others. These systems rarely work as intended though, unless everything is nice and new.

If your pedal is going all the way to the floor, but you aren't losing any fluid, then try bleeding them (did you disconnect any brake lines when you did the work?).

If that doesn't do it, then on to the master cylinder. Check www.rockauto.com for decent prices. Good luck.

 

I did not remove any brake lines. i will bleed the brakes as soon as i can

 

I hope that means before you drive it next. Do what you will with your life, but don't mess with somebody Else's.

 

man, and I was thinking I was finally going to be able to drop some experties. But I was beat to the punch line, rats. So Ill just agree with everyone else. Bleed the brakes, no go after that then its going to be the master. even if the rears weren't working he would still have had some brakes, enough to stop at least. Oh and next time this happens, pump the brakes, dont just leave it at the floor.

 

got it

Spyride- lol man, but u still layed down the expertise so thanks

thanks all

 

OK well i bled the brakes but no avail now the brakes dont work at all and i talked a to a guy at kragen and he said its the master cylander i will buy a new one then put it in then see where it goes from there hopefully working brakes

 

Read up on bleeding before you install the master. There is a way to bench bleed it that will save a lot of time/effort/fluid. If you can get your hands on a power bleeder, life will be much simpler.

 

UPDATE! well i baught a new nastedr cylander, bench bled it and then bled system but still no avail i want to give up now and take it out to a mechanic. anymore ideas? and yes i have bled it a million times perfectly and its not a leak because there is no loss of brake fluid. Brake booster?

 

Hmm... mine is doing the same thing. I have parked it and ordered a new master cylinder, but it sounds like that did not fix your problem. Well I hope it fixes mine as it has been killing my not to be able to drive my baby.

 

^ i feel your pain b rother


ONBOTHER THING when i bled the brakes it felt like there was no difference from before or after i bled it, when i turn on the car the brakes are worse than if the car is off wich leads me to think that there is vacume and the brake booster is working fine? i baught a remanufaxctured MC should i buy a brand spanking new one then try that?

 

Should I Buy New Drum Brake Wheel Cylanders?

 

Yeah I think the only thing left to do for you is to rebuild/replace the wheel cylinders. When you are stopped and holding the brakes (like at a red light) and not applying too much pressure does your brake pedal slowly go to the floor? Mine does this which is what led me to believe it was the master.

 

up no it used to do that wich led me to beleive that it was the master cylander but its no cause i just baight a new one. there is basically no pressure and i can even drive the car cause no brakes at all. i feel something but not eneough pressure to stop. when i open the brake drum the brake shoes are wet from brake fluid wich leads me to beleive that the wheel cylander is out.

 

Yeah that sounds like your problem. Did you notice your fluid level going down?

 

im not loseing any fluid though