Hard pedal

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Manbat

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Just purchased a 69 barracuda. Brakes are very hard, disc front drum rear. Everything I've researched is pointing to a bad booster. Anyone have any similar experience?
 
is your booster hooked up to the intake vacuum port? may sound like a dumb question, but without the proper vacuum they will not work properly.
 
No question is dumb for me. I just found this site today and am browsing through it now super excited about the stuff on here. Im not the greatest wrench in the world but im learning. Yes the vacuum line is hooked up and i actually added a vacuum resevoir that the previous owner had for it but never installed. The gauge on the res shows it holding good vacuum but the brakes just arent there.
 
welcome to the site, i didnt even notice your post count. my power brake booster and brake experience would say that there may be air in the lines, contaminated brake fluid or the booster is not getting the vacuum that it needs. every bad master cylinder i have had has resulted in the pedal going to the floor very easily. i know that air in the lines will make the pedal hard. i have never had a booster go "bad" on me, so i cant tell you what that does in relation to the feel of the pedal. i would go through and bleed the lines at both wheel cylinders and calipers first, before spending the money on a booster right away.i dont know how you have your vacuum routed, but run a line directly from the booster to the intake. does this engine have an aftermarket performance cam? if so , you could be encountering low vacuum at idle
 
A bad booster is kind of common. I had the same problem with my 69. There's a place in Sacramento, Ca. that sells parts for your booster. I'll have to look up the name of the place though.
 
awesome thanks for the help guys. ya there is an aftermarket cam getting the blueprint and all the docs from the previous owner asap. gonna start with a brake bleed and see if that helps any. thanks very much!
 
Do the brakes apply? Frozen solid wheel cylinders can cause a pretty stiff pedal.
 
ya brakes apply but just dosent feel like power brakes, gonna bleed em as soon as i get a hand hopefully thats it. at a light my leg gets tired you gotta hold em so hard...
 
Easy way to find out. Get out on a lightly used road, do a couple of stops "normally" to see what you have, then make a couple of stops with the car in neutral, engine off!! Same pedal pressure? Bad booster.

Also, idle car, stopped. Shut off engine, apply brakes "lightly" a couple of times. Then pump several times to be sure vacuum depleted, then reapply brakes "same as" you did at first. If there's no real change in "pedal feel" ==bad booster.

Apply pedal with vacuum depleted, lightly. Start car at idle, if you do NOT feel pedal "try to go down" a bit due to boost == bad booster.
 
73AbodEE said:
every bad master cylinder i have had has resulted in the pedal going to the floor very easily. i know that air in the lines will make the pedal hard.
Click to expand...

A firm pedal is not a sign of air in the system. A spongy pedal is. Maybe you meant something else?
 
I had the same problem with my 68 Barracuda.It ended up having a hole in the diaphram in the booster.I had it replaced,brakes are all good now(power assist drums).:D
 
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