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Re: Brakes failed

To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Brakes failed
From: ckotting@iwaynet.net (Chris Kotting)
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 20:39:09 -0400 (EDT)
>     Boy oh boy, is it fun to have your brakes fail ;-)
>     
You have a strange idea of "fun", friend.  <grin>
 
>     Anyway the symptoms don't match any of the "symptoms" in the Haynes 
>     manual so I thought I'd ask for some advice.  Brake pedal travels all 
>     the way to the floor to provide VERY weak braking.  Fluid level was 
>     very low in the resivoir.  Attempted to bleed the system with hand 
>     pump/vac but was unable to get any fluid from ANY of the bleeder 
>     screws.  Appears to have been right rear connector or cylinder which 
>     caused the (slow) leakage.
>     
Check the "Pressure differential warning switch" (if you've got one).  On
later Midgets (and B's, I think), there is a cylinder that has both the
front and rear circuits of the braking system feeding into it, and then back
out.  The two circuits are seperated by a "shuttle", that seals to the bore
of the cylinder.  If you lose pressure on one end of the brakes, the shuttle
gets pushed to the other side, actuating a switch placed in the middle,
lighting a warning on the dash that says "you got trouble".

If the seals on the shuttle go bad, brake fluid will leak past the seals and
out past the switch (even if the car is just sitting there).  I had this
happen on my Midget.  It's easy to determine if this is the problem.  Fill
the master cylinder.  Put newspaper on the floor under the switch (on the
left inner wall of the engine compartment).  Wait a couple of days.
Hydraulic fluid on the newspaper, you've found the problem.  Bummer, cause
the seals are tough to come by, and the switch assembly is expensive.

Good luck, and I hope I'm wrong.

Kotts


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