Re: Easamatic Rebuild Sources

Posted by 55PackardGuy On 2013/8/6 21:13:09

The "smoke" phenomenon has to be related to the vacuum side, as near as I can tell from several sources. I believe the only way that the brake fluid can get sucked into the intake is through the vacuum side. It has to get there before it can get to the vacuum hose leading to the intake, right? And the only way I can see into the vacuum side is through the seals around the hydraulic piston.

Why it happens suddenly is beyond me. If it was due to a pitted piston, you would think it would be gradual. Seals might "blow out" I suppose, but I have had this happen sporadically... sometimes going quite a while with no smoke, no sudden loss of fluid, and with brakes working. Then, all of a sudden, big clouds of smoke and no brakes. After this happens, there is little or no fluid left in the MC reservoir.

There is a kind of check valve next to the carburetor inlet that I suppose could malfunction somehow, but I don't see how this would be able to cause evacuation of fluid. If it stuck closed, it would just disable vacuum assist.

Once again, I wish my dad were alive to report on how he fixed ours, because the exact situation that Dennis50 described happened to our '55 400, which my dad fixed and which worked flawlessly ever after. (I was in the back seat and saw the smoke, my mom was in the front seat, and I don't think she appreciated the experience much, either.)

I am getting my (original as far as I know) '54 Easamatic BTV rebuilt, and will ask for a detailed report of what it looked like inside. The car has about 80K on the odo. The brakes had obviously been neglected prior to when I got the car last fall.

I'm beginning to suspect that there may need to be TWO things that have to happen at the same time to create the "perfect storm" of sudden, complete brake failure. That's just a guess, though.