Brake woes again

[mazdarotary]

Hey guys,



I have had nothing but troubles with my brakes on this truck,and I am at wits end here. It started two days before christmas last year when I lost my pedal,and had the warning lights come on. I nursed it to the local repair shop by pumping the pedal. Due to the timing of the trouble I didn't have the time or place to fix it. The shop told me I needed a master cylinder,and they fixed to the tune of $150 which I thought was pretty fair. Two months to the day I was picking up my son,and the warning lights came on again,and the pedal got very squishy. I again nursed it to the shop thinking the part must be under warrenty(it was). The replaced the master cylinder again,and suggested I replace some brake lines in the future. Everything has been fine since then until yesterday when I stopped in front of my in laws house to back in to the driveway. I felt a pop in the pedal,and the warning lights came on again. I pumped the pedal,and it felt ok,but not great. I popped the hood,and the front res of the master cylinder was very low. I filled the res,and pumped the pedal with the truck running and off. The pedal felt ok,but still not great. My father-in-law,and I looked under the truck,and could not see anything obvious leaking,and with all the pumping of the pedal I did not lose any fluid. The master cylinder looks wet around the cover. It seems the MC does not have a float in it like my mazdas,but does have a pressure sensor I think. Could I have gotten so low on fluid that I pulled some air,and now that is why I am having issues?Why would the fluid level get so low?Could I need another MC?These so far have all been rebuild. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.



Chris

92 D250 Club cab NV4500

79 Mazda RX-7 GS

83 Mazda RX-7 LE

74 Mazda RE/PU

 

[PToombs]

My truck has the original MC on it. Last summer it kept losing fluid out of the front chamber I couldn't find a leak. I washed the area and figured out it was leaking out of the top. The seal surface was a little rusty and the rubber wouldn't seal good enough, bought a new rubber at the auto parts, been good since. Good luck!

 

[TShikoski]

Brakes

I recently had a similar problem with loss of fluid from the front half of the MC. When this happens you will most likely get air in your lines which will require a bleed of the system. In my case, I was pulling my fiver, and I think that due to heavy braking, the calipers and/or fluid may have become hot and pressurized the MC causing fluid to leak out of the cover. That was indicated by fluid around the edge of the cover and on the sides of the MC. Once I bled the brakes, all things went back to "normal". If you ever experience the "bump" in the pedal as you previously described, you can be almost assured that the front resorvor is empty.



Tom Ski

 

[mazdarotary]

Thanks for the replies guys. I think it is the rubber seal on the MC cover. I can buy just the seal at a parts place?Or do I need to go to the dealer?I think I will bleed the rear brakes,heck maybe all of them,and get a new seal,and see how that does.

 

[Greenleaf]

My 90 model truck will loose fluid from the front reservoir and somehow gain fluid in the rear reservoir which then overflows and runs out the back side of the MC and down onto the frame rail.



If don't refill the front, it will drop so low as to empty it'self.



GL

 

[JLEONARD]

Chris,

When they fixed the master cylinder... did they install a new one or a rebuilt?

Most of us here have not had great success or luck with rebuilds. . that's why I ask.

Jay

 

[JStraw]

A-men to that Jay. Those rebuilds stink :-{}

 

[mazdarotary]

Rebuilds. I think that may be the trouble,but I am going to try to replace the gasket in the MC cover,and bleed the system. I hope that works,if not I will be back at the repair place. I almost don't even want to bother the guy at the repair shop,because it isn't his fault,and he is eating the labor which I am willing to pay for,but he said no way.





:edit: What does a "new" MC go for,and is the dealer the only pace to get one?





Chris

 

[JStraw]

Chris, they are around $92 new at Autozone. Might be less expensive elsewhere.

 

[JLEONARD]

I got mine from NAPA, $70 4 years ago. It was a Wagner part.

WAG F98896 if you need the part number.

Jay

 

[Moab4x4]

Dittos to the new MC. I have had fresh rebuilds leak from back to front chambers. Back gets low and sucks air while fluid leaks out front cause its overfull. :-{}

Won't do rebuilts again if at all possible.

Hope you beat the odds with a good one though.

 

[mazdarotary]

Hey guys,



I have a quick update. I bought a new MC cover gasket for my truck,and bled the brakes,and everything seems fine now. The wierd thing is the parts place had a HELP! section that carried the MC cover gaskets,but the one for my truck wasn't shown in their book as a Dodge gasket. It was listed as a GM gasket,and even the MC they had in stock that looked exactly like the one on my truck had a GM matching part number on the gasket. Well whatever I got the right part,and all seems fine so far.



Chris

 

[EZGZ]

I cant seem to "STOP" reading brake problem threads?

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. Punn intendid

 

[mazdarotary]

Hey Guys,



I have to revisit this thread again. I must be getting bad karma after test driving an 06 Hemi quad cab the other day,and liking it. About 2 months ago I was experiencing some more brake woes. The small reservior on the brake master sylinder was really low on fluid,and I neede to pump the brakes to get a pedal. I thought oh great I need another master cylinder. Before I did this I thought well maybe I should re-fill the res,bleed the system,and go from there. When I did this I noticed I had a firm pedal,and all seem well. What I noticed a few days later was it seemed the gasket on the MC cover was bad,and leaking the fluid out while braking. I replaced the gasket on the cover,refilled the res,and bled the system again. All has been fine until today when I lost the peadl again,and need to pump it to get any brakes. Both warning lights come on,and the small res in the MC is low again. I have re-filled it,but didn't have the time to bleed it yet,as I was helping my brother-in-law move. What do you guys think I should look at?When I had the troubles before I thought I had a bad line somewhere,but I don't see anything obvious as far as a leak. Could it be a wheel cylinder in the rear?Wouldn't I see the fluid leaking out of the drums?Could it be my MC again?I am stumped. I don't want the payments,or even need a brand new truck,but with a second child on the way,and this thing acting up again,I am tempted to get the $288 a month lease on a hemi quad cab I was offered the other day. Please don't let me do it. This truck needs to get me through the rest of winter,spring,summer,and fall,and then maybe I can afford a newer third gen quad cab. Not that I want anything other than a first gen,but I need four doors,and room for 2 car seats.



Chris

92 Club Cab D250

79 early production RX-7 GS

83 RX-7 limited edition

74 Mazda RE/PU

 

[Paychk]

I would go with a NEW M/C; your choice on the brand, as long as it is a major player in brakes ie Wagner, Raybestos, Bendix. Once you get a new one I think you'll see all your problems gone... permanetly.

 

[PToombs]

The way I see it you've only got 2 options here, either sell me your truck, or quit driving new ones!

 

[mazdarotary]

Hey Pete I may be in the market as far as selling it goes really soon. I don't want to get rid of it,but I need a bigger cab. I could even deliver it for you. I love upstate NY,and we go camping up in Lake George a lot.



Chris

 

[mazdarotary]

A little update for those who care. I just picked the truck up from the repair shop who insatlled the original rebuilt MC. They replaced it again with a new unit,and charged me only the difference from the rebuilt unit,and the new unit. He didn't charge me labor for the part even thoug I told him I would. The shop owner thinks the problem was really just the MC cover was warped,and allowing the fluid to leak out when the fluid sloshed around under braking,and such,but he replaced the MC anyway at my request. Hopefully this fixes me troubles for good. I guess it was payback for liking the 1500 hemi quad cab 4wd I drove last week so much.

 

[PToombs]

Hey Mazda, glad you hopefully got it fixed. Shop guy sounds like a good guy to deal with. I'm in the market for a bigger cab myself, but I appreciate the offer. I'm so poor right now I was looking at a new Oldsmobile- the Urin 8. It's for people who don't have a pot to pi$$ in.

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Hey guys... . does this sound like the situation we run into with certain parts replacements... . you know, like the thermostat from the XYZ store has to be replaced 4 times and then you put in a "C" unit and all is well for another 13 years.....

I know that there are other parts like this and the only answer seems to be "go with the Cummins unit" and you're pretty much home free... ???

OR, am I just up too late for a guy my age...



pb...