spongy brakes

[MuscleCar91]

Hey guys, So yesterday as i was driving to work i noticed my brakes were somewhat spongy. I decided to go to continue to work and worry about it later, well i forgot about it til i went to leave and i think it got worst, at 35mph i could push it all the way to the floor and it just felt like i let off the gas, at 15mph it felt like i was just lightly pressing the brake when i actually had my foot to the floor. So I'm guessing there has to be a leak/air in the lines? Is there anything to check that would be different in this as it's drums? I wanna say it's manual drums but it may be power i don't remember...

 

[A31PKG]

Squat down and look all around the car for evidence of a leak...brake lines, brake drums (wheel cylinder), etc. Is the level low in the master cylinder? If so, it's likely a leak.... if not, then you probably have a bad master cylinder. Were the brakes fine last time you drove it? It's unlikely that air would all of a sudden appear in the system unless it was opened and not bled properly... Be careful!

 

[MuscleCar91]

Thanks, i was just out there turns out the master was really low (couldn't see any fluid) i filled it up and it works fine now. I have had the car over a year now and never checked so i don't know how fast or slowly it went down. I'll be keeping an eye on it now. I just sprayed the driveway down once it dries i'll go check for leaks. Glad the master wasn't bad i was getting worried as thats all i need now...
Btw i drove it Tuesday and they were fine, no signs of sponginess then yesterday they were basicly gone.

 

[sixgunrunner68]

Btw i drove it Tuesday and they were fine, no signs of sponginess then yesterday they were basicly gone.

That's usually how it happens. There aren't any warning signs when a seal or line blows. Check inside the car where the pushrod comes through the firewall too. When my master crapped out, that's where I found the oil. (no power brakes in my car) Look on the inside of the wheels/tires. If the wheel cylinder went, the fluid will be sprayed around the tire and you'll see a drip from the drum. Basically go over the whole system, I'm sure you'll find something wrong. No such thing as a slow leak with brakes in my book, safety first man.

 

[69hemibeep]

pump the pedal up and stand on the pedal for a minute and see if it goes down.

 

[Roadcuda]

Check the gasket on the master cylinder cap. I was starting to have a similar problem with my '64 Cuda and found that the master cylinder was almost empty. The outside of the CL was wet which I found was caused by a bad cap gasket. I had to get gasket material to make a new one and it's been fine since.

 

[glhcarl]

My RR had strange brake problem when I first got it. If I eased the brakes on it was like I had no brakes at all. If I hit them really hard they stopped fine. It ended up being the old fluid was just too thick to flow through the wheel cylinders.

I had to replace the master cylinder, the wheel cylinders and bleed the system until all the old fluid was gone.

 

[Roadcuda]

My RR had strange brake problem when I first got it. If I eased the brakes on it was like I had no brakes at all. If I hit them really hard they stopped fine. It ended up being the old fluid was just too thick to flow through the wheel cylinders.

I had to replace the master cylinder, the wheel cylinders and bleed the system until all the old fluid was gone.

Believe it or not, I had that same problem, and did most of the same thing on my '64 Cuda when I first got it. Mine was so bad that I had to replace all the steel and rubber lines in the car. I just couldn't push the old stuff out.

 

[MuscleCar91]

Thanks guys i played with it alittle and didn't notice any problems. Drove it around the block with no problems so i decided to take it to work. When i got home it was getting dark so i'll check tomorrow to see if it went down any and check for drips under the car.

 

[Basketcase]

when I firts read the title, I thought Hemibeep was the poster.... :acme:
when I firt took mine out this year, it wanted to make a hard 90 to the left. pulled the front wheels and found the left wheel cyl was leaking.
and I had a truck once, that the fluid was disapearing. could not find any leaks. when I was under the tuck for the millonintz time, I noticed the PO had put a new brake line on the right rear, and had the line looped above the rearend housing. there wasn't a tailpipe, and the heat from the exhaust was going right on the brake line. musta been heating the fluid out. and a scarey thing happened, when I touched the line to move it, it broke right off. ran a new line proper, and problem solved.