pedal fade

[Guest]

on my '77 salon, at a stop with my brake applied, sometimes the pedal will go down.<BR>this will happen when a just relax my foot from the pedal without completely taking it off. i have to quickly pump it to get it back up to normal height.<P> it is a scarey feeling.<P>

[rocketraider]

Your brake master cylinder is worn out and leaking by internally. Usually a simple fix, though between work, seats being redone and trouble finding help, it took me 5 months to get the brakes bled after installing a new master cylinder on my 74 Hurst.<P>I recommend getting a BRAND NEW master cylinder. They're available and not that expensive considering they are new and not overbored. My experience is that most rebuilds tend to do what yours is doing after a year or so, especially if the car isn't driven daily.<P>I also like Valvoline's SynPower brake fluid. It's DOT 3/4 rated and has an outrageously high wet and dry boiling point- about 60 degrees higher than plain old DOT 3 fluid. An dnot nearly as hateful to bleed air out of as DOT 5 silicone fluid.

[Guest]

thanks for your reply.<BR>do you think i can pick up a new master cylinder at a local parts store or do i need to go through a classic car parts distributor of auto parts.<P>thanks again.

[rocketraider]

Got mine thru a local store tied into the All-Pro parts warehouse network. Think it was about $35. A rebuild goes for $15-20 and time you've gone thru 3 or 4 of those, what have you saved? My 76 Ninety Eight is next in line for a new one, as it's doing the same thing yours is. Just hope I can find a helper a little quicker than last time

[Guest]

thanks again, $35 is pretty cheap.<BR> was expecting about $80-$100 (this is N.Y.)<BR> but for a parts store to still have access to a 25 year old replacement is pretty amazing in itself. good luck with your repairs.<P>