1946 Lincoln Continental low brake pedal

[Guest tomw51]

I have orginal brake system on my 1946 Lincoln Continental, V12. I inspected the brake shoes and they seem almost new. However stopping it takes longer than normal distance to stop. Brake pedal pressure seem low. These are the hydralic type with the canisters of some sort at each wheel. There does not seem to be a place to fill fluid. How to you add or check, and bleed if necessary. I have never added fluid so not sure what kind is in the system.

[Tom_Overfield]

You will need to pull the carpet back on the drivers side and you should then find the round cover on the floor boards. Remove this cover and you will see the master cylinder. On the top of the master cylinder is the cover, remove this cover by turning the square headed bolt and this is where you can add brake fluid. Hard to know what your system has in it but a good guess would be it is DOT 3 as original. Any Auto Parts store will have several different kinds of brake fluid including the DOT 3

When you say the "pedal pressure seems low" I am not really sure what you are saying here, but if there is air in the brake system, the pedal will feel spongy, not solid as it should feel. I am also thinking what you refer too as canisters are the wheel cylinders. If when looking at the brakes hopefully your didnt find any of these wheel cylinders to be wet or leaking fluid. I you did, then they need to be either rebuilt or replaced.

Bleeding the brakes is not that difficult but if you have never done this before, I would suggest you enlist some help with someone that has knowledge of the braking system as this is too important to do incorrectly. Needless to say, the brake drums MUST be back on the car before you touch the brake pedal. The bleeder screw is located at the top of the backing plate and might have a rubber cap over it. It will have a hole on the center to allow fluid and air to escape the system while bleeding the brakes.

The basics of bleeding the system , top off the master cylinder with brake fluid, and screw the cover on. Pump the brake pedal several times, then let the pedal up and take foot off of it. Going to the rear right wheel, have someone loosen the bleeder screw, then someone in the car will push the brake pedal to the floor and hold it there. Fluid and air will probably come out of the bleeder screw and you'll know as it will be "spitting" instead of a nice steady stream of fluid. Before letting up on the brake pedal, the bleeder screw will have to be tightened, then once tightened, pump the brake pedal several more times. Check and top off the fluid in the master cylinder and repeat until all you get out of that right rear wheel cylinder is a steady stream of fluid, then while continuing to hold the pedal to the floor, the bleeder screw is tightened and you move to the left rear wheel and repeat. Finally go the the right front, bleed, then last the left front. Continually check the master cylinder and make sure it always is full of fluid during this bleeding process otherwise you will have to start over.

As this process can be messy, a brake fluid resistant hose fit over the bleeder screw and going to a can to catch the fluid that comes out of the bleeder will prevent a lot mess.

Hopefully this explains the process in enough detail but like I said, if you have never done this before, I would highly suggest you locate someone with experience as it is too important should you desire to stop in the future.

Tom

[Phil Knapp]

Right on, Tom!

The only change I would make is to not necessarily pump the brake pedal between bleedings. I always used to do that but was advised recently that it's not necessary or productive when bleeding brakes.

You're absolutely correct in starting with the wheel that is farthest away from the master cylinder.

If your '46 Lincoln has had a recent brake job, it might contain the new non-asbestos brake lining material. If this is the case, the new brake linings don't produce enough friction to safely stop the car. That's what happened to my 1941 Continental after I installed new brake linings. My solution was to install a power brake booster from a 1957 Thunderbird.

Photos of the installation can be seen in my Webshots Screen saver photo album at:

http://rides.webshots.com/album/557478162IZJiRf

[Buicknutty]

Do you perhaps mean that the pedal goes low, ie. near the to the floor when braking?

It may need a brake shoe adjustment to compensate for wear, but if it needs bleeding, there is a reason for air to enter the system which would need to be corrected first. Periodic brake shoe adjustments are normal for most older cars.

I concur with a previous poster, that though the braking system is not complex, it needs to be serviced properly, seek someone with the appropriate experience to assist you if nec.

Keith

[Guest notnow]

I use a Vacuum Pump to Bleed Brakes ..They are In-expensive and make the bleeding job a One Man Job.. No need for "Pedal Pumping" and are so easy to use that even a "Cave Man" can do it !!

I also use it to check Vacuum Advances on Cars With vacuum advances and use it to check vacuum hoses on Newer cars with Vacuum Controls and/or Switches .Every Mechanic should have One in his Tool Box..

[Tom_Overfield]

I just used my "Mighty Vac" to check an intake manifold a couple of days ago to make sure the passages inside were not burned away from the exhaust passages inside. Indeed I have used it for brake bleeding also, however I failed to mention it to Tom as I didnt want to confuse him, plus everyone needs to experience the fun and total mess of bleeding brakes at least once.

Tom

[Phil Knapp]

After I installed the power brake booster in my '41 Lincoln, I couldn't get a pedal. My wife and I tried bleeding several times without success. I finally broke down and bought a Mighty-Vac and found that I couldn't pull a vacuum on the BRAND NEW brake booster. It turned out to be a bad bleeder screw. Go figure!

The fact that the brake linings on Tom's 1946 Continental seemed "almost new" indicated that somebody may have installed the new non-asbestos brake linings and didn't understand why the car didn't stop very well. Possibly leading to the sale of the car??

Edited March 17, 2012 by Phil Knapp (see edit history)