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| | | | Joined: Dec 2014 Posts: 32 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2014 Posts: 32 | my father just gave me his '53 3100 and it has been stored for two years and it is in great shape. when he parked it the brakes worked (stock manual setup w/4 wheel drums)perfectly. we pulled it out to ship it to my house the other day and the brakes don't work. the pedal goes straight to the floor with little effort and the truck doesn't stop at all.
the brake lines are all brand new, there are no leaks. just stopped working after sitting.
any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Loving my new (old) '53 3100 5 window!
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,102 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,102 | Remove the cap and check to see if there is any fluid in the mc. If not fill it to the level and pump the brakes a few times to see if you have some pedal. You may now have some brakes but that does not necessarily mean you don't have a problem. It may require further investigation to determine if there is a leak.
Fred
1956 3100 Pickup/Red/350/3sp OD/PS/Disc Brakes
1957 Bel Air Sport Coupe/Red/355/TH350/PS/Disc Brakes
2017 Silverado LT Single Cab SB/Black/5.3/6 Speed Trans
1947 Willys CJ2A w/F-Head engine
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2014 Posts: 32 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2014 Posts: 32 | I checked that, and it was full and the fluid was very clean and I could see the piston actuating in the cylinder with no weird sounds or bubbles appearing.
Loving my new (old) '53 3100 5 window!
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,270 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,270 |
Did you bleed each brake cylinder?
If there are no leaks and all cylinders bleed. You might want to pull each wheel, have someone push the brake pedal, and see if the brake shoes move?
This is not wasted work, you would want to check out all brake system parts anyway.
| | | | | Joined: May 2005 Posts: 8,983 Sir Searchalot | | Sir Searchalot Joined: May 2005 Posts: 8,983 | If none of the brakes "catch", seems like upstream problem. MC seals. You would probably have some pedal stiffness if a cylinder was bad, I think? Crack a rear bleed screw and see if you get pressure squirting while someone depresses pedal, close screw as pedal returns. Need to rebuild MC anyway as TC says about each wheel.
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2014 Posts: 32 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2014 Posts: 32 | it was stored in perfect working order. with no leaks seems strange to me. when it arrives next week from Minnesota, I will start the process of fishing thru the system to find what is at fault. just weird that it worked great before now it doesn't. you'd think there would be some fluid somewhere squirting out.
Loving my new (old) '53 3100 5 window!
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 9,115 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 9,115 | This sounds like a classic master cylinder failure. The primary piston seal can fail to seal and just slip along the bore. If you just had a little bit of air in the system, you could pump the brakes up and feel the spongy response. If you had a leak somewhere, all the fluid would pump out. Personally I would not drive it until the master is rebuilt, even if the brakes started to work. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,878 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,878 | Sitting unused for even a few weeks can cause a brake system to develop the problem you're describing. Have some one push the pedal down (slowly) a couple of times and hold it down while you open, then close a bleeder screw on one of the wheel cylinders. You should get a squirt of fluid, and possibly an air bubble. Keep going with all 4 wheels until you get nothing but fluid at all the wheel cylinders. That should get the pedal back. Even a small bubble of air will cause a brake pedal to go all the way to the floor. If the problem comes back during regular use, it will be time to rebuild the master cylinder.
Jerry
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| | | | | Joined: Dec 2014 Posts: 32 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2014 Posts: 32 | Ok soon as she arrives this week i will jump in and start the work to diagnose.
Thanks everyone for the advice
Loving my new (old) '53 3100 5 window!
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