Cant brake and the fluid res is full

Bluntz

Registered User
So all was well one day and i stopped to the store, got out of the store into my car and took off only to have no brakes in this parking lot.

I rolled to a stop and checked my fluid and it is fine. i limped it home, and my pedal goes to the floor and id say i have 10% to 20% braking power.

I know these cars have an elaborate braking system, can someone give me some pointers on where to start looking for solutions. Thank you.

1990 Ford Thundrerbird SC
 
Its got to be a bad master cylinder if your not leaking any fluid or you got one hell of an air bubble. Air bubble not likely if you were driving the car before it happened. Most of the master cylinders I have replaced, the pedal will meet with resistance as normal and then slowly go to the floor as long as pressure is applied. If you have little resistance, I would check for a broken push rod from the brake pedal to the brake booster or a bad brake booster. I have never seen a brake booster go bad in that way though.

Mark
 
Same thing here....

If your pedal goes to the floor with little resistance (like when your bleeding the front brakes), then most likely the master cylinder has gone bad....:(
 
So when i look up master cylinders on autozone i see a master cylinder thats different than mine, well the resevoir is different, the one they have is narrow and mine is wide. Do i get it anyways and just switch resevoirs?
If i am being unclear i can post a pic.

How hard would it be for me to just rebuild the master?
 
I believe you will reuse your reservoir so difference in shape will not matter. I'm not sure of difference between abs and non abs cars but I wod take my old master cylinder with me to compare. You will probably have to turn in for core refund any ways. As far as rebuilding, probably not hard based on your skill level. Personally, I would replace with rebuilt.
Mark
 
So when i look up master cylinders on autozone i see a master cylinder thats different than mine, well the resevoir is different, the one they have is narrow and mine is wide. Do i get it anyways and just switch resevoirs?
If i am being unclear i can post a pic.

How hard would it be for me to just rebuild the master?

You should have the Teves Mk II ABS system.

It's nowhere NEAR what AutoZone shows.

For instance, this is what you have (from RockAuto) : http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?carcode=1198683&parttype=1588

THIS is what AutoZone shows (well, for a 1991 - might be slightly different for the 1990 base units): http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?carcode=1198683&parttype=1836

Try checking the "Convert to Conventional" thread if you're wanting to convert to conventional brakes.

Or contact The-Big-E and see if he's got the ABS unit for your car.

He'll be a bit less.

RwP
 
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