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Cougar brake update!

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Turbo301 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 10-April-2011 at 2:06PM
I've been a busy boy this weekend! After some (okay, much LOL) swearing, some elbow grease, and a whole bunch of brake cleaner/lacquer thinner/permatex later, my drums were stripped to their barest essentials, cleaned/re-aligned, and put back together. The good news: after a test drive, nothing flew apart  and the car stopped as well as it did before. The bad news: the car stopped as well as it did before LOL! I was expecting better pedal feel and the damn "BRAKE" light to go away, but to no avail. My parking brake also doesn't work as well as it did before (it works, but isn't strong enough to hold the car on a very gradual incline).
 
When I first took the brakes apart, the driver's side rear adjuster was all messed up: I fixed that and it held well during the drive; inspecting them after their break-in drive, the adjuster screw did its thing and expanded out to about where the it was before (from completely retracted, where I set it during re-assembly). The pedal feel was super-mushy when I started, but got stiffer during a few back-ups (no surprise there). There were no fluid leaks, and the system bled normally.
 
So, I'm kinda at a loss. I'm going to get my girlfriend to work the brake pedal for me tomorrow as I inspect to make sure the shoes are moving.
 
As for the unequal pressure causing the "BRAKE" light, perhaps it's actually the FRONT brakes causing the light to be on? Wouldn't that be ironic :D.
 
I've attached a pic showing the dirty mess before, and the "after". All of the silver is permatex high-temp lubricant. 
 
 
1977 Cougar XR7
1980 turbo Trans Am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote unlovedford Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-April-2011 at 7:19AM
Make sure that the parking brake is releasing completely. If the spring that helps the EB pedal stay up gets tired, it will cause it to sag or stay "loose" and it might keep the light on. Additionally, you might have a short in the circut or sensor on the master cyl. Just a thought...
Joe
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Regul8r Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-April-2011 at 8:00AM
haven't bled out all the air from the lines and then pumped the brakes enough to reset the proportioning valve?
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Turbo301 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-April-2011 at 2:36PM
The fronts were bled last season, and the rears bled when I put in the new cylinders. The pedal pumped up okay, but alas, the brake light is still on, and it still doesn't have the braking power I expect of Ford's normally "head-through-the-windshield" brakes :).
 
I examined the brakes in action today: the passenger side brake extends MUCH further when the parking brake pedal is pressed: it actually goes far enough that it can slip off the ledges on the backing plate! At the same time, the driver's side brake just creeps forward a tiny bit. Hmm. That explains why the parking brake isn't as strong as it should be, but why the discrepancy side-to-side? What part of the linkage can I adjust to affect side-to-side (the Ford manual doesn't label any of the parts :S).
 
The passenger side also seems to extend a bit more readily when the regular brake pedal is pushed (no power to the car, just pushing on the pedal). Interestingly, there is no pulling to one side when I apply the brakes, hard or soft. I guess that's one good thing in all this :D. I imagine it could be a bit hard to tell if the shoes are extending the right amount without the drums in place (and then, of course, you can't see what's going on). However, the parking brake thing is definitely an issue.
 
I guess there could be a short in the sensor, although it came on by itself after all these years, so I'd be surprised if it shorted out now.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psquare75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-April-2011 at 1:18AM
The star wheel adjuster will put the brake shoes in the proper position. I normally tighten them up so the wheel WONT turn by hand, and then loosen so there is some resistance, but not alot (sorry, it's not very scientific). 

As for the ebrake, Do the cables move freely when unhooked from the ebrake arm at the backing plate? if disconnected at both ends, the inner cable should move fairly freely, by hand. 
Paul
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-April-2011 at 5:13AM

I had my adjusters fully closed, which lead to a VERY soft pedal when I first backed up the car. It stiffened up quickly, though, so the adjusters were definitely working, on both sides. I wonder, do I maybe just need to re-bleed the one side? Perhaps there's a bubble or two stuck in it, and that's why it's not responding as much to the brake pedal? I detected a small leak at the junction on the pumpkin after bleeding, and tightened it up, but I'm wondering if perhaps some air got in?

I didn't check the e-brake central cable before re-assembling everything. I noticed, though, that
the spring that holds the actuator arm to the cable was much tighter on the passenger side than the driver's side (I had to have a helper for the passenger side, to re-engage it with the arm, while I could do it single-handedly on the driver's side); this shouldn't affect the amount of shoe deployment, though, should it? I think that woudl just affect its ability to return to the proper position when released.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psquare75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-April-2011 at 7:22AM
Try what I listed. That'll help adjust them properly. As for the leak you fixed, it is overkill usually, but I always rebleed after finding a leak. 

It sounds like you have a frozen Ebrake cable, as they both should have the same tension. 
Paul
77 XR7 460/C6/3.00:1 *SOLD*
78 XR7 523/C6/3.5:1
79 F100 460/TKO500/3.25:1
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-April-2011 at 1:52AM
Good advice, Psquare! I adjusted the brakes manually like you suggested (the driver's side took more than I was expecting!), and the brakes work great now! Just from that, even the parking brake now holds the car under its own weight. You're the man!
 
Unfortunately, the brake light is still on. My parking brake pedal is a bit saggy, but even pulling it up manually all the way didn't make it go off. Huh. Maybe I'll just disconnect the stupid sensor.
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