>:(
Dag Gum breaks went out on my Pinto this morning, not a good thing. I hit the breaks the first time I needed them and nothing, so I figured it was a air bubble in the line, so I just used the trans to stop until I got to work and was pulling in the parking spot and I needed the breaks. Again, nothing. I ended up jumping a 8" curb, That was a rough ride! I ended up smashing up some of the sidewalk with my front cross member, I don't know if the suspension is damaged or what other damage there was I will check it out later on, but I wasn't about to drive it home. I picked up a U-haul trailer and towed it home. Truck did great, especially considering the load, tire size, gears and all. Pinto weighs about 2500lbs and the trailer was 2000lbs(4500lbs. total). Here's a couple of pictures:
(http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/Trigger01Ranger/DSC_0001-6.jpg?t=1205537684)
(http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/Trigger01Ranger/DSC_0004-7.jpg?t=1205538465)
(http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/Trigger01Ranger/DSC_0006-8.jpg?t=1205538564)
That really bites. When my older brother had my Pinto the brakes went out on him too. He ended up down shifting until he had slowed down enough to use the hand brake so she could get home in one piece.
He replaced the master brake cylinder and now they're great though. Might want to take a look at it.
Keep us updated!
Thats never good. If the brakes went out on my Pinto, I'd probably be going down the track and it probably wouldn't be a very fun ride.
-beegle55
Hey Trigger01,ever heard of an emergency brake?Duh. Seriously though,that is one of the first things you want to get working on an old car.Glad you didn't have a major mishap.
Perhaps his is one of the unluckly Pintos to have the notorious broken brake button and hasn't found a replacement brake handle yet.
I have yet to experience it myself, but I know a few people who have. I worry about it every time let go of it and let it snap back into place.
I hope that everyone that reads this remembers that Pintos are 20 to 30 years old and brake lines don't last forever. Especially in areas of the country that use salt on the roads. Be Safe.
I am very happy things were not worse Trigger01.
High_Horse.
Thanks, for the comments. I too am glad things were not worse. My dad had the entire braking system was rebuilt before I got the car, so the brakes are less than a year old. The e-brake doesn't work well either, but I knew that and hadn't bothered to fix it yet because I just leave it in gear while off.
Good news! No damage to the suspesnion! I am still looking, as I have time, to figure out what is wrong with the breaks. So far I have determined that there is a leak somewhere. The larger of the two resiviours was empty and the small one is full. I get off work early tomorrow so hopefully I won't have anything pop up and can keep working on the car. That's where I am at as of now. I'll keep you posted
Quote from: Trigger01 on March 20, 2008, 07:31:48 PM
...there is a leak somewhere. The larger of the two [reservoirs] was empty and the small one is full...
At least you have it narrowed down to the front brakes. If the front flex lines to the calipers have even the slightest sign of cracking, chuck them and get new ones.
BTW, as for hardlines, Classic Tube has never done me, nor my dad, wrong. We've gotten them for a '67 Mustang, a '72 Blazer and a '77 Mustang II. Unfortunately, they do not have the front lines for a Pinto listed. Now they MAY have the program in the database, and just don't have it listed, or, worst case scenario, they can make copies of your old part, and then they would have it in their database. We got ours in stainless since nearly every part was only a few bucks more to do SS vice standard steel.
--Good luck and STAY SAFE!
Since I know less than nothing about brakes I asked a friend to come over and take a llok at the ole Pinto. He determined that it was the Master Cylinder, which is kind of what we thought to begin with. Picked it up today and planning on putting it in on Monday after work. Hope that's what it is.
I know somebody wants to buy this car, so please make me an offer.
First of all, sorry to hear you have [had] a brake problem.
NEXT :
And because you said you know nothing about brakes,,,,,, did the "brake light" come on [it shouuld have]
Now your about to have fun with the "light" Just remember, if the light is on, you only have half a brake system, you will NEVER get a full system until the light is [out and stays out]
Ask for help, if you dont understand how the system [the light] works ! !
BEFORE you even start, ask for help. Its easy enough to correct when you KNOW were the "ball" [turns thre light on] is, a real S.O.B. when your guessing
P.M. me if I could help, I have 45 plus experience [owned a shop] so theres a good chanse I know what I'm talking about
Second: .......because, I'v always wondered about this ! ! !
Will you please advise the cost of the "U-Haul Trailer" I'm sure everyone will be surprised at the cost of a trailer rentail [vrs] a "Flatbed Tow Truck"
If I remember correctly, I paid about $80.00 for a tow truck [towed about 30 miles] And when I think about the time and etc. rentail doesnt seem to be a good idea. But I never looked into the cost. Now I wonder So, please tell about cost of rentail
Best as always,,,,,,,,,,,, Jim at jimspinto
Quote from: jimspinto on March 30, 2008, 12:47:10 PM
First of all, sorry to hear you have [had] a brake problem.
NEXT :
And because you said you know nothing about brakes,,,,,, did the "brake light" come on [it shouuld have]
Now your about to have fun with the "light" Just remember, if the light is on, you only have half a brake system, you will NEVER get a full system until the light is [out and stays out]
Ask for help, if you dont understand how the system [the light] works ! !
BEFORE you even start, ask for help. Its easy enough to correct when you KNOW were the "ball" [turns thre light on] is, a real S.O.B. when your guessing
P.M. me if I could help, I have 45 plus experience [owned a shop] so theres a good chanse I know what I'm talking about
Second: .......because, I'v always wondered about this ! ! !
Will you please advise the cost of the "U-Haul Trailer" I'm sure everyone will be surprised at the cost of a trailer rentail [vrs] a "Flatbed Tow Truck"
If I remember correctly, I paid about $80.00 for a tow truck [towed about 30 miles] And when I think about the time and etc. rentail doesnt seem to be a good idea. But I never looked into the cost. Now I wonder So, please tell about cost of rentail
Best as always,,,,,,,,,,,, Jim at jimspinto
The light did not come on at all.
My friend knows a ton about cars, recently just over hauled/redid a 70's Camaro, and he will be guiding me or doing most of the work, and I will soak up all the knowledge I can.
The U-haul trailer cost around $53 for a day, I had it less than 2hours and went less than 20 miles with it.
Thanks for the help. I am ready to take it out on the road again, as frustrating as this car gets I still love to drive it. And I will miss it if I can ever get it sold.
Quote from: Trigger01 on March 30, 2008, 09:51:58 PM
The light did not come on at all.
My friend knows a ton about cars, recently just over hauled/redid a 70's Camaro, and he will be guiding me or doing most of the work, and I will soak up all the knowledge I can.
The U-haul trailer cost around $53 for a day, I had it less than 2hours and went less than 20 miles with it.
Thanks for the help. I am ready to take it out on the road again, as frustrating as this car gets I still love to drive it. And I will miss it if I can ever get it sold.
===========================================================
Guess I'm glad to here you didn't have a problem with the brakes, its always fun getting that system working again after it fails once.
Very often when it the master, the valve and light doesn't come into play, and when you bench-bleed the master, you dont have to bleed the system, so you dont turn the light on
However, two schools of thought here
#1 is, dont fix what aint broke
But I think its more important to varify that the system works.
Step one, turn the key [almost] to the start position , The light should come on
If it doesn't, there are several reasons why. The wire if off the switch [valve] and or is broken. The bulb is burnt out. The switch [valve] has been removed. AND YES THE BRAKES WILL WORK WITHOUT THE VALVE [the warning light system will not, but the brakes will] If the valve was removed, all four brakes should work withot a problem
Step two, apply the emrg. brake, the light should come on and if not, guess the bulb is out, emgr. brake switch bad or unhooked, something like that
Your now down to "DO ALL FOUR BRAKES WORK"
On dirt or gravel, get up to eight or ten MPH, lock the brakes up Now look at the ground. If all four wheel leave a stoping mark, you can chase the light problem [only] if you want. If theres only a mark from one axel, only half the system is working and you probably have to get the light system to work before you can get the brakes working [in all four wheels]
Or remove the valve, and replace it with "T's" This is going to start a long long discussion, but after 45 or more years owning a shop, I'm telling you, if the valve is removed the brakes will work without a problem. The warning system WILL NOT but the brakes will
The system is sometimes a real S.O.B. but for your safety, you need to eather [both ?] make it work, or at least make sure you have four wheels stopping
Send me a message if I can be of help, its very hard to explain the system here, especially if I dont know if theres a problem or what it might be, if there is
Best as always.............Jim at jimspinto
P.S. Before the argument starts. I have three cars that DON'T have a valve in them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One was converted to a dual master system, the other two had non-working valves and I removed them with a "T" to rehook the front lines. The rear needs no "T" Just run the line from the master back to the hose
The only thing the valve is realy needed for is to turn the light on [or off] And of course the warning system.
Quote from: jimspinto on March 30, 2008, 12:47:10 PM
Will you please advise the cost of the "U-Haul Trailer" I'm sure everyone will be surprised at the cost of a trailer rentail [vrs] a "Flatbed Tow Truck"
If I remember correctly, I paid about $80.00 for a tow truck [towed about 30 miles] And when I think about the time and etc. rentail doesnt seem to be a good idea. But I never looked into the cost. Now I wonder So, please tell about cost of rentail
Best as always,,,,,,,,,,,, Jim at jimspinto
I just rented a uhaul this weekend an it was just under $60 for in town one day rental(24 hrs) But i had to travel 30 + miles to pick it up an then took it out of state to get a car . All total i had the trailer for about 13 hrs and 450 miles just returned it to uhaul after hours. also had to take it back to the dealed i picked up from ot it would have been $120 or to pick it up where the car was and drop off in my town it would have been $169. go figure all the differences. it was the local uhaul dealer who told me to use it that way
Phils toys
Well got the master cylinder replaced to night and it's in and working, but with the old M/C not working it was not pushing the fluid through the lines with any pressure so when the new M/C started pushing fluid through the lines it broke a rear brake line(big part of it is due to rust) and that'll get fixed tomorrow night. Started squirting brake fluid all over the driveway... I just want to drive my Pinto again!
Got everything fixed last weekend and it stops like a whole different car. Gonna put it up on the corner with a for sale sign pretty soon if none of yall want it.