91 Cougar brakes; Stiff pedal, no stoppy

[Science Abuse]

Brake booster? That was kinda scary, Good thing I didn't go to Trails today.

 

What else could it be?

[Lustalbert]

Limited stopping, or no brakes at all?

Check to see if your vac line is conected to your booster, and the line and 1 way valve are free of obstructions.

[Guest Removed]

is it the hydro boost style ? if it is its most likely the unit at the master, unless your power steering pump took a shit.

 

if its a vacuum unit, its the booster itself. the internal seal takes a shit and bam, hard ass pedal.

[Science Abuse]

I did get braking pressure, but only with about 300lb of pushing.

I'm honestly not that savvy with these brakes, thus the post. I could go check for vacume lines.

 

It was driving fine, then suddenly when pulling up to a stop light rock hard. I may or may not have heard a pop, the car is so loud regardless, I can't be sure.

[Science Abuse]

here's a picture of what I have, notice theres no large balck UFO...?

http://i5.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/95/a7/6372_1.JPG

 

There's something else, not pictured, its a black spherical thing with an allen nut on top. It warns of brake pressure and injury.

[rl]

Its an electric brake booster. They are expensive, find one used. They do fail and more-so on cars that sit. They suck in general.

[Science Abuse]

removed the abs computer today, didn't even think about it. Don't want ABS, figured it would just make the ABS not work. Why would it work for 5 mi, then suddenly not?

Long story short, I'm looking to run the brakes without it. Bypasses? Alternatives? I'm thinking of a decent race system.

[rl]

Get a standard system from a v6 car in the junkyard, I THINK the booster will fit.

[351mach11647545510]

get it a hooker or rub it out yourself. = p

[Science Abuse]

Get a standard system from a v6 car in the junkyard, I THINK the booster will fit.

But it wont jive with the cable-clutch, will it? Looks like there'd be interference.

 

I took the wiring bundle out of the car. It weighed ten pounds +, so it was nice to be rid of it. Tonight, I cut open the bundle and set after the wires I needed. To quote the understated Mythbusters; "Well THERE'S your problem!":

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/8408/prlmyh4.jpg

 

so, I tracked down the wires I'd need using the following logic:

-There were alot of connectors in the car that were plugged into nothing, yet the car ran fine. These wire could be cut.

-The wires I need are the ones that disappear into the firewall. Their color should match the ones coming out of the processor. This turned out to be false. In the 10ft of wire bundle, there were many splices.

-Despite those splices, after cutting away dead end connectors, I should be left with just those wires that went into the firewall, and off to the brake assembly. This one turned out to be right.

 

There were many inputs and outputs. 4 wheel sensors, a speed sensor, and something else going in. These connectors were hooked to nothing when the car was in running order, so they were cut.

The outputs are what caused my problems, since this system runs off the brakes.

After much combing, cutting, capping and taping, here is what I have:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3060/donevp2.jpg

It will be mounted under the dash up front, rather then under the rear dash. This will save me 7ft of wire (probably 100+ft combined).

 

Now the hard part, picking through the engine wires to match them up with what I've got here. Good thing I've got slack.

It's also free.

[Science Abuse]

wired the computer back in...no worky. Time to get rid of this.

[Science Abuse]

Will mustang gear work, ya think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/79-93-ford-mustang-brake-booster-master-prop-valve-line_W0QQitemZ260104499023QQihZ016QQcategoryZ33566QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Dave1647545494]

get a vacum booster from a base model done deal

[Dave1647545494]

or convert to manual brakes

[Science Abuse]

get a vacum booster from a base model done deal

hmm...How much wiring? I'd imagine it'd need power and a couple sensors to keep from "vacuum boosting" too much.

 

So I'm finding 2 boosters for Fox bodies.

This thick one is labeled as "power brake" specifically

 

This one is of the same generation, but is significantly smaller.

 

So, am i to understand that the vacuum booster is in there? I'd like to stay with power brakes, it's a heavy car. Then again, I don't know brakes, what's the benefit of manual?

There's also this, would I be better off sticking with something designed for the space available? If I go that rout, I'd like to use an aftermarket master cylinder. How do I measure the travel?

[Dave1647545494]

the vacum booster is the whole big round black thing

 

you need one of those for t-bird or cougar (specifically) and that'll fix it

[Science Abuse]

ahhhh vacuum booster = brake booster. Same thing, different words.