Coming down the hill the other day revealed manageability problems that were more than just a little unnerving. There were a couple of stops on the way down – checking for loose lug nuts if that gives you any indication of the severity of the issue.
After a short sit and think, I had concluded there was air in the brake lines, and undoubtedly moisture, the bubble had expanded coming down the mountain, and the brakes were dragging on a drum that was out of round. At a minimum, the system would need to be bled. Then, the primary concern was getting it off the street without hurting anyone or ourselves. While I had done some cleaning and superficial maintenance prior, this day was spent mostly in preparation to bleed the braking system, which has it’s difficulties. I had brought down just about everything I could think of in the way of hand tools for common maintenance concerns, but none of those things gets the vehicle off the ground securely for real “work”.
Luck smiles on me at times, and it didn’t take long looking around to come up with an “at hand plan”. The hard part was just doing it – digging out the materials, pulling nails, borrowing lumber from down the street, etc…
The owner of this place is a good friend of mine, and has been an immeasurable help, giving me virtual run of the place. They no longer use the parking garage, so I have it to myself. He has every tool I don’t (but car stands), and loans them freely. One of his workers, Peto, owns an old Chevy, used to drive bus here for 25 years (which makes him a local celebrity), and knows all the shops and supply places “off the main”. The restaurant owner is a tenant of his, and loaned me the extra lumber I needed. Frankly, due to the nature of the owner himself, similar types are gathered around him as you might suspect, and I happily include myself in that list.
Anyways, here’s what went on.
As you can see, there’s a bunch of stuff that has to be moved before I can even begin.
Once that was moved, I swept out the place, and started getting her up in the air. First forward…
Then back onto makeshift ramps. The drum wasn’t seized, and I managed to break loose the bleed screw. Excellent! From the wear pattern on the inside of the drum, it needs turning. Fine, makes for jerky stops, but not devastating.
Then I looked in the reservoir. Ahhhh, yes…. ok, but that’s a lot missing.
Working on the other wheel now just to loose the bleed screw, here’s a good shot of the ramps.
And once I had that done, I found this. Brake fluid where it shouldn’t be. Ruh rohh…
The source of the problem. Wherever moisture can collect in a drop, time after time, and rust can begin, is a potential problem.
Several times, prior to going anywhere far, I stood on the brakes. Hard!! Mostly to scrub off the rust on the rotors and drums, also to see if it pulled one way or the other (which it did), but also to be sure I had braking. Probably the last straw, it burst the line, and I lost the remainder of the fluid on the way down the hill.
This explains much. It explains why the brakes seemed to seize – a system with a leak won’t pull the pads off when the pedal raises.
So, that sucks, and is a major road block. I don’t have a brake line wrench, which I will NEED. Both those lines go all the way to the distribution block (or whatever it’s called) under the master cylinder in the engine bay, and both are one solid piece. I will have to make these by hand, so it’s a good thing for Peto, the bus driver. He’ll know where to get long spools of brake line, the flare tool for the ends, and all that shit to get it done.
The country is still on holidays, so we’ll do other things while we wait. Lots to be oiled and revived. The big question marks now are all the things that have to come loose to repair it.
