Hey list,
I recently had my wheel cylinders replaced because the originals were
leaking brake fluid, and my neighborhood mechanic, a very experienced
mechanic at that, put them in but noticed a problem. He said that when he
tested the brakes, after coming to a stop with the pedal fully engaged, the
brakes seem
to disengage a little, and the car moves forward slightly until you apply
more pressure to the brake pedal. He seems to think the problem might
be in the brake shoes, which got a little wet from the brake fluid leaking
on them, but which he cleaned and checked and seems to think are ok. He
believes that everything else is ok on the brakes. I tested the car, and
felt like the brakes are better now than whenever I had driven the car
before (I have been driving it about 9 months now), but I did notice
what he was talking about. I don't think that this is dangerous, but it
seems odd that when you push down on the brake pedal and the car stops,
its as if you need to push down a second time to keep the car from moving
slightly.
I know I'm not doing a great job of describing this problem, because it
really needs to be experienced to be understood.
Could the problem lie with the brake vacuum booster? Maybe it leaks
and doesn't give the full boost when you put your foot down on the pedal all
the way. It does seem to hiss a little when the car is in N and you
push the pedal down all the way to the bottom. Anyway, if you have ever had
this problem, maybe you could help.
Also, I had the mechanic check the choke and the carb, the car wasn't
idling properly, and he changed the idle speed to about 700, which seems
a bit high according to specifications. Is this unwise? It feels better
than before. Thanks,
Raffi in SF
62 Crown Coupe
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