One-time brake anomaly

[stuartrubin]

I was idling at the drive-through line and the pharmacy after having driven for about 1/2 hour. I noticed that I had to push the brake pedal WAY down to actuate the brakes. This lasted for a few minutes while I was driving away, and then went back to normal.

Any ideas about this? Should I be worried? (I'm only slightly nervous about my car not going, but very nervous about it not stopping!)

BTW, 75-degrees and not a cloud in the sky in Cleveland today! I'm trying to get every minute of driving in that I can!

Thanks

Stuart

[ORFORD2004]

Air in the system?

[stuartrubin]

ORFORD2004, I thought about air. I don't know much about the braking system, but I would think that if there were a leak in the system, there would slowly be a buildup of air as fluid leaked. It's almost like there may have been an air bubble that "burped" out somehow...

I took the Spider out this morning for an errand and it ran (and stopped!) fine.

Still curious if anyone has thoughts.

Stuart

[ORFORD2004]

You should bleed all 4 brakes

[nelsonj]

Check your break fluid!!! and make sure the Master Cylinder isn't leaking. I had a similar mystery issue, and found my fluid reservoir almost empty. I replace the M/C and have not had any issues since.

[DieselSpider]

There could be multiple reasons such as hot brake fluid after the 1/2 hour drive causing the brake fluid to vaporize or worn rubber piston cups in the master cylinder letting fluid bypass them when sitting with your foot on the brake. Time to clean and lube the slides on the brake calipers along with flush the brake fluid especially if its been 2 years since it was put in from a freshly opened container and possibly time to replace the master cylinder.

On a vehicle with disk brakes especially one that is not being driven daily its my practice before driving off to do several successive forward and backward hard stops in the driveway to loosen the calipers so they won't be as likely to drag and heat up.

[stuartrubin]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I did check the fluid levels and they seems fine.

I've been thinking that it's about time to have my brakes checked (I suspect the pads are low). I'm about to winterize the car (although I did drive it through the Cleveland cold this morning), but when it comes out of hibernation next Spring, I'll have all these things done:
Bleed / replace fluid
Lube slides
New pads
And check the master cylinder

[SanJoseSteve]

Did you ever figure it out.....? I too experienced the same thing with my 72. Twice a year the past 2 years. Just got all the parts to do a complete rebuild but curious if you ever solved the problem on your end.

-Steve

[stuartrubin]

SanJoseSteve, I guess I never "figured it out" per se, but after I took the car out after its winter hibernation I took it to the mechanic for some general maintenance, and asked him to do a full check on the brake system. He didn't see a problem and I have not had a problem since. Right now, I'm back to the problem of not "going" instead of not "stopping"...