When i stop only my front right brake works and i can lock the tire up really quick. When i pump it a couple of times it works ok or when i pull the hand brake (that really only works as a rear brake instead of locking it) and pump it a couple of times it works ok (ok meaning puts it to all 4 wheels instead of 1). but it still does'nt brake as good as my bros 84. Whats wrong? I'm tired of almost rearending people because my 1 brake works. any help appreciated.
I've already bleed it and it did'nt work.
(it's also an 84 gsl)
thanks

 

In what order did you bleed the brakes?

 

Sounds like the mastercylinder proportioning valve may be blocked or the lines are crimped somewhere along the way.

Start out by looking for any brake system leaks that may be losing pressure. You would have to be adding fluid to the brake mastercylinder reservoir pretty regularly to keep a brake system leak from draining the system. If you are adding fluid, report back and let us know that.

Hydraulic braking systems rely on equal pressure to all lines, otherwise you won't be able to get even pressure to any ONE line - i.e, if you have a leak somewhere, and the proportioning valve is good, you won't have very good brakes (if any).

Since you state that you have braking at one corner, it's very likely that the proportioning valve that sends brake fluid pressure to the L-Front, R-Front and both rears is clogged and not able to pass the fluid correctly to all corners of the car. Simple fix is to rebuild the brake master cylinder with a rebuild kit which replaces the internal pistons and seals. This may fix your problem right away, and for the $20 for the rebuild kit (BAP/Autozone), you could be getting off cheaply.

If you have the money, get a full brake master cylinder rebuilt setup, which replaces the proportioning valve and reservoir all at once - this is easier to install, easier to get working correctly, and pretty much guarantees that it will work correctly when you get it all hooked up and bled correctly.

Bleeding the brakes is a critical part of getting good braking performance, so if you're not good at this, or haven't done it before - take it somewhere and have a professional brake shop work on it. Doing it wrong CAN GET YOU KILLED. Take this seriously.

Take a look at these things and report back,

 

Yea i bleed the left front and it still did it so i gave up. (that was a while back) And it can easily lock up the right front wheel which is what it sends the pressure too. I think it probably is the controll thing or whatever it's called, i'll take a look at it tomorrow and hopefully order the rebuild kit too cause i have to have it done by this Saturday. so either way i will get it done thanks for the help.
By the way it is my spring break for 2 weeks and my girl is out of town right now, so in the next couple of days i can get a lot of stuff done.

 

Jack up the car and check to see if the left front is even working. The caliper may be frozen or the hose may be bad. I chased a bad hose on my van once that looked fine, but was internally collapsed, making my left front brake useless.

 

if the caliper was frozen it would be the right one, in most cases calipers freeze in the closed position and doesn't retract causing them to drag and wear the pads hardcore.

when you say you pump your brakes and you get back the braking ability that means assuming you have drums in the back that they are not adjusted properly, your star wheel most likely would be stuck, not allowing them to open up with the wear. Your shoes are so far away from your drums that a couple pumps of the pedal brings them to the drum.

Also the proportioning valve only controls the pressure Allowed to the rear brakes, if too much is allowed they lock up and your rear end slides out from behind you. That is the purpose of it. It doesn't send more to the fronts, just limits only the back drums.

 

Try bleeding your whole system. You might be getting fluid to all your wheels, but idk, maybe the wheel cylinder/calipers are messed up.