Locking Brakes on 60 Electra - Solved (sort of)

[JoelsBuicks]

Last night I got a chance to remove the power booster off my 60 Electra in preparation to send it to Booster Dewey for a rebuild. I immediately noticed it had a lot of liquid inside - yep, brake fluid. I couldn't resist taking the thing apart myself. It looked pretty easy and indeed it was. There was about a cup and a half of brake fluid inside. Surprisingly there was very little rust inside although there was a little discoloration of the plating. The rubber diaphragm was in excellent condition and cleaned up nicely. After drying for a day, I put it all back together and back on the car this evening. It worked great and try that I did, I couldn't make the pedal stick.

I am hoping that my master cylinder rebuild stopped this leaking and that this fluid accumulation is a remnant of a previous problem.

I do not know enough about the mechanics of this operation to tell you exactly what was happening. My guess is that fluid was impeding the flow of air at atmospheric pressure which is needed to overcome the vacuum and return the pedal back to normal.

Thanks again for all of your help. It made a big difference!

[Guest brh]

Thanks for the feedback, got to admit this is a new one for me. I think ya have it licked. The only word of caution is I don't know how brake fluid effects rubber on the booster, so if ya wind up with something acting goofy on the brakes thats the first place I'd check. Great to hear another mystery solved.