No Brakes!

[Jarwood]

Driving home from a car show today my brake pedal went to the floor. Nearly rear ended a woman in a Toyota!! After slamming the emergency brake down and throwing it in park....I ended up in the grass looking at her through the passenger side window. After getting out and checking things out, I found that the push rod that connects the brake pedal to the power booster came loose. I don't understand how a threaded part that pushes and not pulls came apart. Got it back together and drove home, but brake lights stayed on so I will have to adjust that.
I put the brake booster on about 6 months ago and have not had any problems until now. Can anybody explain why this may have happened. I sure don't want to experience that again!

[Jarwood]

this is where it came loose (threaded /bolt)

[Jarwood]

better pic

[Xeen]

Hi Jarwood
Did you inspect the threads on the rod and also inside the connector, either one of them could be damaged.
If there is no damage then it was just a poor installation but keep in mind that it doesnt need to be screwed all the way in, all you really need is about 6 threads minimum to hold it on there so it must have been on by less than 6 threads.
On power brakes that adjustable connector is designed to not only adjust pedal height but to make sure the pedal has full range of motion so make sure it is adjusted properly and the pedal doesnt hit the floor before you drive it again.
Also if the pedal goes all the way to the floor no matter how you adjust it then you need to rebleed all 4 brakes using the two person method or a vacume bleeder untill it doesnt.

[Jarwood]

Thanks for the advice. I am going out now to check everything out.

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by Jarwood

Thanks for the advice. I am going out now to check everything out.

Hi again
Here are some tips and tricks for bleeding your brakes using the two person method.

1) On each caliper have your partner pump the brake pedal 4 to 5 times then hold it down while you loosen then tighten the bleeder valve they should not release the brake untill you have retightened the bleeder valve, communication is important durring this, so make sure you tell them when to pump and hold and when they can release.

2) Attach a tight rubber hose approx 12" long to the bleeder valve and have the other end in a clean long small bottle filled with brake fluid so that when you are bleeding the brakes the air cant get sucked back in before you tighten the bleeder back up, you can use this fluid to top off your reservoir as it gets too full, use a single paper coffee filter to make sure any contaminates are removed while you are pouring it in.

3) Use a rubber mallet to tap the brake caliper several times in between each time you bleed it, you should bleed each one 3 to 5 times before you move on to the next one to make sure you get all the air bubbles out of the system.

***Warning*** If you do this procedure correctly you will have touchy brakes and you wont be used to it so take it easy the first time you test them

[1970 C10 MJW]

Originally Posted by Jarwood

Driving home from a car show today my brake pedal went to the floor. Nearly rear ended a woman in a Toyota!! After slamming the emergency brake down and throwing it in park....I ended up in the grass looking at her through the passenger side window. After getting out and checking things out, I found that the push rod that connects the brake pedal to the power booster came loose. I don't understand how a threaded part that pushes and not pulls came apart. Got it back together and drove home, but brake lights stayed on so I will have to adjust that.
I put the brake booster on about 6 months ago and have not had any problems until now. Can anybody explain why this may have happened. I sure don't want to experience that again!

dude glad to hear u and the truck are good, be careful out there

[Jarwood]

Hopefully got eveything in working order. Did have a problem with one of my brake lights... got it all working. I am going to do several miles of test driving tomorrow.
Thanks guys, I appreciate the help!