so many misfortunes that have come my way on my 6 week old brake bleeding "project".

things like:

-my bleeder screw was stuck, both the fronts
-i needed to get rebuilt calipers
that took two weeks
-the bleeder screws didn't fit
-had to order some other calipers because of the stripped thread in the caliper because they gave it to me like that
that took two more weeks
-my metal line was fubared
-many other things that **** me off

and now, i bled the system. finally, but wait. NOW when i turn on the motor, all the brake pressure is LOST... i have NONE. but with the motor off, i have pressure.

also, when i push the pedal down with it running, my idle gets jumpy. what the hell?

i just want to drive my car again.

 

bad or disconnected brake booster

 

my friends honda is doing the same thing.sometimes the pedal gets stiff and looses all pressure and somtimes it brakes perfectly fine. have u tried bleeding the maser cylinder

 

yup, i bench bleed the MC...

so i disconected the booster's hose. the part that points to the chassis... my brakes work fine... ????????

what now?

 

there is a check valve inside the vaccuum hose that goes from the intake manifold to the brake booster. If you replace that line or attach it backwards, the valve won't work properly.

 

i didn't attach anything backwards. i didn;t even touch any of the brake booster stuff. until now.

 

alright, well here's the deal.

i drove it for the first time around my neighbor hood in a long time. (it felt sooo good to drive her again.)

but i have absolutely NO power brakes, BUT the pedal is stiff as hell.. why? because i left the hose unpluged on the chassis side. but when the motor is running with the hose connected, i get no pressure.

SO, is it the valve in the hose? or is it the brake booster?

also keep in mind that whe i took the hose off on the chassis side it had vacuum through the metal pipe.

 

... give up and go to midas

 

-

 

A bad brake booster would give you a stiff pedal with no boosted feel, whereas a bad valve would give you too much vacuum and give a dead pedal feel with the brakes applied very easily. I would look at the valve (cheaper, and goes bad more frequently)

p.s. why do you need a brake booster anyway? just build them leg muscles

 

ha! it feels like i'm killing the pedal trying to push it down so hard

so, with the motor running and the hose that goes to the metal tube on the chassis is disconected and feels like i have no power brakes, that means it's the valve?

and with the motor on and the pedal has no pressure feel, with the hose CONNECTED, it's the valve?

just want a second opinion here

where can i get a valve? autozone for cheap?

 

Are you leaking any fluid through the rear of the MC into the booster body (you probably wouldn't know it without removing the MC)? Are you leaking any fluid at all? Is this a new or rebuilt MC?

 

no. i'm leaking no fluid at all, and yes, i took the MC off to bleed it. but no fluid is coming out.

edit, no... this is still the original MC, that i know of.

 

How long does brake feel "lost" after you shut down the engine? Immediately, or does it take a while to get the normal engine-off brake feel back?

 

well, after i shut the motor off, the softness goes away after a few pumps, and becomes normal again.

keep in mind, that is with the hose connected.

 

All right, so we're back to the booster, check valve, & hoses...Did you check the LIM connection at the other end of the hose run? Also, if you have the FSM, there are a couple of pages worth of functional checks on the booster & such...Tried that?

 

not yet, i can't seem so DL any right now... iluvmyrx7.com is down and so is fc3s.org's...

i haven't checked the other end yet, i just took off the BB's hose the one with the valve and i blow through it, it blows through the right direction... towards the firewall. so i'm guessing it to be in good shape?

 

heh... btw its a $40 dollar hose from the dealer,, if you replace it w a hose w/o a check valve, you'll have no power brakes at anytime.