thewooddogg
02-22-2005, 11:27 AM
Hello fellow AZ Jeep'rs!
I've been a AZVJC lurker for a while, always reading stuff and looking for stuff, waiting for the time that I have a little extra money to get a lift and have some fun with you guys. Well, that never seems to happen, but my 88 Jeep Cherokee keeps getting older while the time goes by.
Recently, I've had a problem with spongy brakes, a "hissing" brake booster, and a leaky master cylinder. So, I started a week ago by going down to the autozone nearby (yeah I know they don't have the greatest parts but I can't afford expensive ones for my daily driver), and picked up a master cylinder, brake booster, and a bunch of brake fluid.
I installed it exactly as the instructions and my Haynes book said too. I cycled in the new brake fluid to completely replace the nasty black old stuff. The new brake booster works outstanding! The new master I have some concern about. My brake pedal travels too far! I have very responsive braking at low speeds, but if I'm driving above 30 or so my brake pedal goes all the way down and the brakes never lock, although it does stop eventually, but not safe enough in my opinion.
I started by thinking it was my master cylinder not being bench bled well enough, so with my freshly purchased bench vice I removed and bench bled it, reinstalled it, bleed the brakes again, and tested. I did this twice, by the book both times. Second, I messed around quite a bit trying to get the booster push rod perfect, I tried 3 different methods of adjusting it correctly. (although, I'm still not satisfied that I got this part correct).
So then, I figured I'd start with the hard part first, the rear brakes. I replaced the drums (autozone showed me one of them was cracked in quite a few spots), shoes, all the springs and stuff (except for the self adjusting stuff), and both wheel cylinders (one was leaky, and they were cheap to replace).
The pedal still goes to the floor. Still very responsive at low speeds, but not enough braking power at higher speeds.
So, the only items left to replace: Comination valve, front calipers, front rotors(if they can't be turned, front pads, and brake hoses.
Anyone have any advice for me?
I'm at a loss... I'm going to try and adjust the booster rod again tonight and re-bench bleed the master cylinder. If that doesn't work, I'm going to replace the front brakes. If that doesn't work, I'll replace the brake lines, and then call the stealership to see how much a new combination valve costs. After all that, I will have essentially replaced all the brake parts except for the metal lines... If it doesn't brake well after that, I'll drive it off a cliff or something... jk
I've been a AZVJC lurker for a while, always reading stuff and looking for stuff, waiting for the time that I have a little extra money to get a lift and have some fun with you guys. Well, that never seems to happen, but my 88 Jeep Cherokee keeps getting older while the time goes by.
Recently, I've had a problem with spongy brakes, a "hissing" brake booster, and a leaky master cylinder. So, I started a week ago by going down to the autozone nearby (yeah I know they don't have the greatest parts but I can't afford expensive ones for my daily driver), and picked up a master cylinder, brake booster, and a bunch of brake fluid.
I installed it exactly as the instructions and my Haynes book said too. I cycled in the new brake fluid to completely replace the nasty black old stuff. The new brake booster works outstanding! The new master I have some concern about. My brake pedal travels too far! I have very responsive braking at low speeds, but if I'm driving above 30 or so my brake pedal goes all the way down and the brakes never lock, although it does stop eventually, but not safe enough in my opinion.
I started by thinking it was my master cylinder not being bench bled well enough, so with my freshly purchased bench vice I removed and bench bled it, reinstalled it, bleed the brakes again, and tested. I did this twice, by the book both times. Second, I messed around quite a bit trying to get the booster push rod perfect, I tried 3 different methods of adjusting it correctly. (although, I'm still not satisfied that I got this part correct).
So then, I figured I'd start with the hard part first, the rear brakes. I replaced the drums (autozone showed me one of them was cracked in quite a few spots), shoes, all the springs and stuff (except for the self adjusting stuff), and both wheel cylinders (one was leaky, and they were cheap to replace).
The pedal still goes to the floor. Still very responsive at low speeds, but not enough braking power at higher speeds.
So, the only items left to replace: Comination valve, front calipers, front rotors(if they can't be turned, front pads, and brake hoses.
Anyone have any advice for me?
I'm at a loss... I'm going to try and adjust the booster rod again tonight and re-bench bleed the master cylinder. If that doesn't work, I'm going to replace the front brakes. If that doesn't work, I'll replace the brake lines, and then call the stealership to see how much a new combination valve costs. After all that, I will have essentially replaced all the brake parts except for the metal lines... If it doesn't brake well after that, I'll drive it off a cliff or something... jk