help with brakes?? 84 ranger

[bushmonkey]

hello all, sorry if its in the wrong spot.

i need some help with my brakes. long story short...ish i baught a 500$ 84 ranger 4x4 because it had a sweet winch bumper that fit my explorer, now the exploreres dead so im fixing the ranger. the ranger had no brakes so i replaced pads/shoes, got nothing. replaced calipers and rebuilt the drums and replaced the wheel cylinders and a few lines i broke in the process. still nothing. i cant seam to get ANY pressure in the brake pedal even when pumping it. good fluid flow out all 4 corners when bleading the lines. no leaks anywere.

Anyone have any suggestions? all that would be left to do is the master cylinder but it must be functioning or i wouldnt get fluid out all 4 brakes when bleeding right?

 

[hopster]

just because you have fluid flow doesn't mean you have enough pressure. I bet you need a master cylinder.

 

[BlackBII]

When you press on the pedal, watch the fluid in the master cylinder resovoir as it might be getting pushed back into the resovoir instead of into the lines because of a failed seal, in which case I would recommend trying a different or new master.

 

[bigtruck94]

Did you replace all your lines? That might help a bunch.

 

[bushmonkey]

thanks for the fast replies guy, hoping to get this figured out today. so i only replaced the steal lines to the drums off the axle. and ya when i press the brake the fluid in the front portion of the resovoir kinda sprays up a few inchs. so does that mean i need a new master cylinder?

 

[adsm08]

Yes.

 

[bushmonkey]

now before i buy the master cylinder could the brake booster cause the fluid to spray up in the reservior? just dont want to buy both if i dont need to. also is there a way to test the booster to see if its functioning properly?

 

[martin]

Air trapped in the master cylinder can cause that. I can't see the booster causing any of your problems.

 

[bushmonkey]

i replaced the master cylinder the other day. so today i went to bleed the brakes and hopefully have it all working. got my brother to start the truck, and pump the brakes. he pumped them like 3 times then one of the pistons popped out of the wheal cylinder. as far as i can tell the drums are put together properly. i followed a haynes repair book as best i could. so im basicly stumped on what to do next. i assume the first thing would be to pull the drum apart and put the wheal cylinder back together.



i bench bled the master cylinder before install and my brother said the few times be pumped the brakes was enough to stiffen up the pedal a good amount.

 

[BlackBII]

Sounds like one of the brake shoes in the drum may have been out of place, allowing the wheel cylinder to pop out.

I would pull the drum off and take a look

 

[bushmonkey]

took a look and the shoe somehow moved enough that the cylinder opened up. but the shoe was installed correctly. it cant be loose springs cause i used a rebuild kit with all new springs.

 

[PanamaExpat]

Did you adjust the shoes out to the drums with the star adjusters? The only way what you described can happen is if the shoe travels too far or if you didn't clip the shoe to the backing plate with the nail and washer.

 

[bushmonkey]

yup didnt adjust the star wheal. but now i have adjusted the star wheals so the drum barely fits over the shoes and bled out all 4 corners but still no pressure at the pedal. doing about 20kmh or 12mph?, if i put the pedal right to the floor the truck slows down and eventually stops but it isnt much better then before i replaced everything. martin must be right about the air in the master cylinder. so it looks like i'll be bleeding the whole system again. Anyone have any tips or anything that could make the process a bit easier or quicker?

 

[Andy D]

Take the drum off and put the wheel cylinder back together. Put stuff back together. Tighten the shoes on both sides. Check fluid in MC then open the bleeders one at a time. Leave the cap off the MC, DON'T pump the pedal. There should be a steady flow. If there isn't, then air is getting in.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Put some rags under the master cylinder aand fill it up. Have a helper push on the pedal for you crack one of the lines going to the master cylinder and push the pedal to the floor and hold it there and tighten the fitting. Do that a few times for each fitting until you get a solid flow of fluid out the fitting. The go to all the wheels and do the same thing using firm pressure on the brake pedal holding the pedal to the floor until you tighten ths bleeders. Keep the master cyl full of fluid if you suck air you need to start over. Go from the closest to the master first and bleed them until you get fresh fluid out each bleeder. The key is close the system before you let off of the brake pedal. Then start it and see if you have a good pedal. GL