Dave -
1) Either your servo needs rebuilding, or your brake caliper pistons
are corroded and need replacing. Both of these items will cause these
symptoms, and in some cases a combination of the two will cause them.
I suspect your servo needs rebuilding, however, so I would try that
first. If that doesn't fix it, then you need to take the calipers off
the car and check the caliper pistons for corrosion on the chrome
outer face, If it has corrosion there, that is you problem.
2) You have a bad brake light switch. Replace it with a new one,
they are cheap. You will have to bleed the system anyway when you fix
the servo, so you should fix both at the same time so you only have to
bleed the system once.
Regards,
Alan
'53 BN1 '64 BJ8
On 5/27/05, Dave Murphy <roadwarriordave@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I have two question about the brakes on my 1966 BJ8 and am hoping for some
> advice from the list. I'd like to remedy both situations before Conclave.
>
> 1)When I slow or stop my car with average to light foot pressure, the brakes
> usually don't release completely immediately following release of the brake
> pedal. If the car is still coasting it will continue to slow down and stop.
> If I start up again, I can feel (and sometimes hear (from a slight squeal)
> that the brakes are still lightly applied. But usually 3 to 10 seconds after
> I start accelerating I can feel the brakes release completely and (if
> traffic is quiet enough) I can hear a muffled "flump" coming from the right
> side of the bonnet.
>
> If the brakes are stuck on when I park the car and turn it off, I could
> leave it in neutral and not need to set the handbrake.
>
> But anytime I push on the brake peddle hard and then release it, the brakes
> release immediately and completely. This has become my standard operating
> procedure, before pulling away from a stop. I was hoping this delayed
> release phenomenon would go away once I started driving the car more, but
> although the problem may not now happen at every stop, I don't think it will
> go away.
>
> The car always stops quickly without pulling to one side or the other. And
> last month we blead out all the dirty fluid trying to achieve a more solid
> feel to the brake pedal (which felt a bit spongy to another BJ8 owner). The
> brakes may have gained a more solid feel, but the pedal currently feels much
> spongier than does the brake pedal on my TR6, but when I maintain heavy foot
> pressure , the pedal will only go down so far. The car doesn't consume any
> brake/clutch fluid.
>
> 2)My brake lights only come on when the brakes are applied with a heavy
> foot. They don't work during average to light braking.
>
> Has anyone ever experienced either phenomenon? What were the cures? Because
> the car stops straight and true, I think the wheel cylinders are OK. And the
> "flump" I hear sounds like the vacuum booster to me. Can either the brake
> booster or brakelight switch be easily "repaired", or must i invest in new
> ones? Or might one of the problems be caused by the master cylinder or lines
> or hoses?
>
> I appreciate any and all thoughts.
>
> Sincerely,
> Dave Murphy
> Dearborn Michigan
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