First off, big thanks to all of you who took the time to help this bricklin
newbie. It paid off.
I received several emails describing the various details of the
proportioning valve, and what probably had occurred. They were all right,
and since they told the story in different angles, it was easy for us to fix
- without ruining lots of parts or wasting time. Here is the full story for
future reference:
Once upon a time, 'Ole #841 was going in for a brake job and tune
up. The person who did the brakes was unaware of a small but crucial step
in bleeding the brakes that is almost unique to the Bricklin. You see, the
proportioning valve in the bricklin, and some other older cars, has a neat
little function in it, which prevents it from knowing the difference between
a rear brake failure (cut line, leaking cylinder, ect.) and a simple
bleeding. *You must ensure that the pin that extends directly out of the
proportioning valve is pulled out as the brakes are being bled - or else it
will retract in, and close off the line to the rear brakes. It takes either
three people (one to pump the brakes, one to pull the pin, and one to open
and close the bleeder), or a clamp to hold the pin open.
So that is the story. An interesting thing we did to find out if
the rear brakes themselves were broken (blocked line, frozen cylinders,
ect.) was to switch the brake fluid lines coming directly off the master
cylinder. Once we did that, we found that power was restored perfectly to
the rear brakes, and the front ones stopped functioning. Then we knew where
we stood, and began the above process.
Now, ironically, the only problem with the car is the Power booster.
Since the rod is too long, the brakes are always enacted a little bit. Bad
smell, not good for the car. So thanks to the part numbers you emailed me,
I plan on ordering the right one and taking care of that. Then I should
have a beautiful, well stopping, great vacuum holding Brick.
One more interesting Tid Bit. Why wasn't the brakes light on the
whole time I have had the car? When we replaced the power booster, it came
on, and once we had bled the brakes correctly, it went off. But once the
rear brakes were shut off, the light should have come on, and stayed. This
shall remain a mystery....
Again, thanks for the help. It looks like we have one more day of
this project - then we're done with the brakes for a while.
Best Regards
Dave
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David Joseph Ebel
david.ebel@visitalk.com
visitalk.com - Website Developer
Office: (602) 776-2026 | Cell: (602) 315-9585
Bricklin Owner #841 <www.davidebel.com>
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