Brake Problem HELP! UPDATED

[pb24]

1968 Charger 383 stock engine with four wheel drum power brakes. One of the front brake hoses developed a small leak so I replaced both front hoses, bled the brakes took the car for a short drive and they worked fine. Today I went for a long drive and for the first part of my drive the brakes worked fine. When I got to my destination I noticed that the engine was Idling rough and on my way home I noticed that I had to push really hard on the brakes to stop  the car. When I got home I bled the front brakes again and adjusted all four wheels and it didn't help. I pulled the hose from the booster at the manifold and felt vacuum and when I plugged the fitting with my thumb the engine idled a lot smoother. You can tell That the booster is not original but I don't know how old it is. Do you think my booster is bad? Is there any way to test it? Also the brake pedal doesn't go down after you start the car.

[Todd Wilson]

Sounds to me like yur booster has failed.


Todd

[resq302]

Sounds to me like yur booster has failed.


Todd

[hemihead]

Yep , booster went south on ya .

[Nacho-RT74]

booster leak... diaphragm broken or even the baquelite body ( center section ). It could be also the front seal went bad, or the check valve or seal.

Since you are getting a rought iddle, I would think more toward to some leak to outside. Just diaphragm broken will make a bigger vacuum chamber joining front and rear chambers , but if all seals are still god, will keep vacuum to keep smooth iddle. Just would get hard braking.

I can be wrong thought! but I'm thinking on the booster design, what as far I know is a sealed chamber all around.

[pb24]

I replaced the brake booster today and it solved my problem. BUT the brakes act differently. With the old booster all i needed was a lite touch of the brake pedal and the brakes would grab all most locking up the wheels. With the new booster I have to apply a lot more pressure to the pedal to make the car stop. Is this normal or do i have another problem.

[bordin34]

Did you bleed all the lines on when you replaced the booster? Try doing that to see if it firms up.

[pb24]

I Didn't disconnect the master when i replaced the booster. I did bleed all the brakes before i replaced the booster. The pedal is firm but i have to push a lot harder to stop the car with the new booster compared to the old booster.

[resq302]

Did you adjust the rod that comes out of the booster to the master cylinder enough?  If it is not adjusted properly, extra pedal travel might be necessary to make up for the lack of adjustment.

[pb24]

I adjusted the rod to the same length as the old rod. How much free play should you have at the pedal?
The problem is that I have apply a lot more pressure to the brake pedal make the car stop compaired to the old booster.