Brake booster?

[cp2295]

could my brake booster cause my idle to suck? My brakes kind of suck a lot, but sometimes In the mornings they'll be super touchy, but later on they'll be terrible. However I did the test that my manual said and according to that my booster is air tight. I hAve brand new rotors pads drums shoes and even wheel cylinders and I flushed the lines

 

[Mark_88]

The booster may be air tight but if there is a vacuum leak anywhere it will cause idle problems...inspect all vac hoses...

Brakes are terrible as in spongy pedal?

Bleeding can sometimes take several attempts and a spongy pedal is one indicator that bleeding is required...also try backing up and hammering on the brakes or manually adjust the star wheel to bring the rears up a touch.

I did mine about three years ago and they've been great ever since, but it took me about two days of bleeding and checking for leaks till they finally got better...

 

[cp2295]

No they aren't spongy, they are hard like I'm getting no assist. Also I got a smoke leak test done and I have no vacuum leaks according to it. He went through the booster hole so I thought maybe the booster might have a leak, it never got hit with the smoke.

 

[Mark_88]

Did you happen to change the flex lines on the front?

A hard pedal could indicate that the master is toast or on the way out.

 

[cp2295]

No do you think I should change the flex lines?

 

[cp2295]

And could I just rebuild the master vs buying a new one?

 

[Mark_88]

The flex lines should be replaced, but that usually causes brake lock...although I do recall having a harder than usual pedal when mine were going out...and it would take forever to actually stop sometimes.

You could try bleeding the master by itself, but it is a bit tricky getting the lines connected afterwards. You need to actually hold the pedal in until the line is back on and you probably should bleed the brakes again after doing that.

Rebuilding vs a new one? I can't remember the last time I actually had to buy a brake master...still have the original on my 88 and they are pretty much identical to the one on my 92 and 96...as long as you haven't changed the booster without changing the master it should be OK...but if you've changed either one then you have to make sure the push rod is adjusted properly.

The Haynes manual I have has a section on setting the booster up with the master. I had to play with that for a bit after changing the booster on mine and it wasn't hard to do...just a bit of a pain because one of the brake lines actually broke in the process...so...maybe spray the lines with some penetrating oil before moving them if you are going that route...it won't prevent a rotted line from breaking, but it might allow you enough flexibility in an old line to move it if you have to.

 

[cp2295]

Replaced the master.. Working great now thanks for the info!