Brakes Sticking...Then Not

jirwin

jirwin

Goblin Guru
Sorry, not trying to revive an old thread, but I'm having similar issues. Its been a while since I've worked on the brakes, but I started looking again yesterday. I tried pushing it out of my garage, and I could move it around. After I started the car, it locked them up. I imagine this is because I push the brake in when I start it (manual for what its worth). They are fine after I let the car sit a little while (off). Looking at all the suggestions here it could be one of the following:

1. Brake pedal not coming all the way up - Checked this. Its returning as high as it can.
2. Bad brake hose only allowing fluid to travel only one direction (using DF stainless steel braided)
3. Bad calipers bad?

Like I said its been a while, but I feel like it isn't air in the lines. I spent hours using a vacuum bleeder and the pedal to try and get all the air out of the lines. I too had the pedal not returning issue prior to this. After that the brakes worked, but stuck. If memory serves me, I jacked it up and checked the wheels and it was basically every brake that was frozen (I will be confirming this later today).

At this point I'm thinking its most likely that its the calipers themselves. I did tear them apart to paint and bake them. I know they were a bit of a hassle to reassemble so maybe I did something wrong there. I think I'm going to start by checking to see which ones are frozen, and then take that one off and reassemble them.

Any other suggestions?
 
ctuinstra

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
When this happens, jack up the car and try to rotate each wheel. This will tell you if it’s one wheel and it’s caliper or both front or both rear and potentially a line or MC issue.
 
jirwin

jirwin

Goblin Guru
ctuinstra said:
When this happens, jack up the car and try to rotate each wheel. This will tell you if it’s one wheel and it’s caliper or both front or both rear and potentially a line or MC issue.
Click to expand...
New master cylinder as well. Forgot to mention that. Old one was leaking.
 
Lonny

Lonny

Administrator
Staff member
Temporarily remove the two nuts that hold the master cylinder against the brake booster. Slide the master cylinder away from the booster as fas you can without damaging the lines. Check to see if this released the brakes.
 
jirwin

jirwin

Goblin Guru
Lonny said:
Temporarily remove the two nuts that hold the master cylinder against the brake booster. Slide the master cylinder away from the booster as fas you can without damaging the lines. Check to see if this released the brakes.
Click to expand...
Well, you're onto something. All 4 were frozen. Not to the point where I couldn't turn the wheel, but where they wouldn't free spin at all. I loosened the master and they let go. What does that mean? Bad master? I already put a new (although off brand) one in when I couldn't get it to seal with the reservoir relocation kit.
 
ctuinstra

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
I don't mean to be a pest, but are you 100% sure the pedal is up all the way? Not just by lifting it, but on our car the brake switch was holding it down some and it felt like it was up all the way. Your car may have a different switch and not be the case. Some cars needed the spacer between the booster and the frame mount.
 
jirwin

jirwin

Goblin Guru
Desert Sasqwatch said:
I vote for the spacer missing between the brake booster and the pedal box. This would keep the master cylinder partially depressed.
Click to expand...
You hit the nail on the head. It all adds up now. The spacer is the answer, but its also the problem.

So in this post I was talking about how my brake switch was actuating too early. I suppose it wasn't after all. I am in fact missing the spacer. I know I received the spacer, but with it in my brake master cylinder hit the radiator and the hard brake lines didn't line up that well. I feel like I asked about the spacer somewhere on the forum, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I removed the spacer and everything fit fine. This must have caused my brake switch problem too. Like you said, keeping it partially depressed.

I think I'm going to try shimming the booster with a couple washers. When I followed Lonny's advice I was able to release the calipers just by loosening the master cylinder bolts by about the width of a washer or two.

It was right in front of me the whole time haha. Thanks for the help guys
 
ctuinstra

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
The spacer should have come from your donor. I vaguely remember in the videos talking about saving the spacer but our car did not have one so we didn't use it.
 
jirwin

jirwin

Goblin Guru
ctuinstra said:
The spacer should have come from your donor. I vaguely remember in the videos talking about saving the spacer but our car did not have one so we didn't use it.
Click to expand...
No it definitely did. I just couldn't get it to fit, so I scrapped it. I believe I posted about it here but I can't find it. It make the master stick too far out and run into the radiator.
 
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