Hey guys,

Here are some photos I just took of the wheel cylinders. The one that seems to have a very rusty orange fluid coming out of it is on the drivers side. The fluid that was in the system before I bled it was fairly brown, so I guess a lot of moisture was getting in at the reservoir.

-Garrett

Attach file:

---

  (80.43 KB)


  (75.26 KB)


  (62.06 KB)


  (53.06 KB)

Like you Kev, my brake system is completely new with the exception of the drums and backing plates. The front brakes were slightly out of adjustment and I fixed that yesterday. The wheel cylinders and hardware I have are from Kanter. IIRC the cylinders are Raybestos brand.

What I find so confusing is the fact that these brakes were working pretty well before I started messing with them. The reason for messing with them was the fact that I could never properly adjust my rear brakes to where the parking brake would catch. If I tried to adjust them properly the rear brakes would spark and lock up.

-Garrett

Thanks O_D,

I really don't know why they are leaking. Could the kinked hose have had some influence on that? The wheel cylinders are only about 2.5 years old and I haven't driven the car very much. I guess that's the next step; replacing those cylinders.

-Garrett

Hey guys,

I've been having problems getting my brakes to work properly. Un-kinked the rear brake hose and inspected the rear brakes themselves, and bled the whole system till there were no bubbles in the fluid. The pedal is soft, and at 15-20 mph the car gently comes to a stop with me standing on the pedal, when it should come to a screeching halt.

Something I noticed when looking at the rear brakes was the presence of fluid in the rubber dust boots of the rear wheel cylinders. I'm not sure if that's the cause, but the brakes were working okay before I tried making them work better. Any ideas?

Thanks,

-Garrett

Happy Valentines Day Packardinfo-ers! Enjoy the day with friends and family.

-Garrett

Attach file:

---

  (34.79 KB)

I's thinks we all's does well with are grahamer. Sorry, couldn't resist

-Garrett

Hey Guys,

Checked the condition of the line feeding the rear brakes, and there were no kinks or pinches. And I removed the driver's side drum and everything looked fine. The only thing that was in need of attention was the rear brake hose. It was twisted pretty good; to the point that it limited the flexibility of it. Would that cause what I am experiencing?

Next I will bleed the system and re-adjust the parking brake. I hope that solves it and I can get back to driving.

-Garrett

Thanks Guys,

I'll go out and give everything a check. I did notice the rear brake hose seemed like it was twisted yesterday, so it might be binding there. I believe it is an issue with the rear brakes only. The front seem to work just fine. That is probably why I was never able to set my parking brake correctly. If I adjusted it to where it would catch when set, it would lock up after driving when off.


-Garrett

Hey JW,

I realized last night that the problem was the wheel cylinder. The pins were stuck out pretty far, and the springs weren't strong enough to pull the shoes all the way in. I had to loosen the bleeder valve and let some fluid out to get those pistons to go in far enough. I've never had that problem on any other vehicle I've worked on equipped with drums, why is that?

-Garrett

Hey Guys!

Remember the "sparking" I had mentioned on my trip to a car show? Well it looks like I may have found the problem. I took the passenger side rear drum off to check everything out and make sure one of the linings hadn't come off, or something else that may have gone awry. Everything checked out fine, until I went to put the drum back on. At first the drum wasn't sliding over the shoes, so I backed them off. They are now backed all the way off and the drum still won't slide over (the parking brake is released). Before I took the drum off I was able to turn it with a large pry bar, so it's not like it was stuck. What do I do? Do I need to get underneath and adjust the parking brake?

-Garrett