Brake Befuddlement

[Christ]

For the fronts, the pins could still be sticking. Take them out, clean them smooth with sand paper or a wirewheel, and grease them and the sleeves they go into (pop the sleeves out of the caliper and grease them).

For the rear, the only thing I can think of is the (new) wheel cylinders sticking in the bores. Since there's almost no such thing as a "new" part anymore, it's actually possible, but highly unlikely that you'd get two faulty ones at the same time, or even in the same lifetime.

Did you replace the brake hardware in the rear? Is there a chance that you didn't get all the springs in the correct locations, or if they're old, that they're not capable of pulling the shoes back fully?

All those tests on the MC and booster passed, and you checked each bleeder for residual pressure, all that's left is physical parts being stuck/freezing up, etc.

[clay124]

I had planned on picking up a new hardware kit tomorrow for the rear. So, no I did not replace the hardware in the rear. I'm positive I got the spring back in their original location. Hopefully the old ones are just weak.

I was thinking of this as well; when I bled the brakes the first time, there were small chunks of black stuff coming out of the brakes. Only now I don't remember which ones it cam out of. I assume this could possibly clog up the flow in places. Along with these chunks were what appeared to be metal shavings. It looked like a fine glitter coming through my bleeder hose, but when it settled in the bottom of my bottle, I could make out larger, yet still relatively miniature, metal shards. At the time I was half lit between Guiness and Jameson, and didn't really think anything of it. Now I regret not trying to get a confirmation by sticking a magnet in it.

[Movin]

Lagunitas and stone will definitely clarify the problem, Russian or Belgium influence
enlightens and renews the thought process.
Christ and others have pointed toward mechanical, not hydraulic after your tests.
New springs in a hardware kit are the right direction.
Backing plate lube placed on moving parts will help keep thing moving as intended.
Make sure machined/turned parts fit the new shoes /pads, sometimes things are a
hair bigger and the machine shop work does not fit the new parts.
Look at widths...new stuff a hair wider will do this. By now you should be able
to see the wear mark, seek and destroy!!!

[zoom zoom]

I flushed 2 big cans thru my mazda 626 brake lines when I did it, there was a lot of old dirty fluid in there that was black. Try flushing the system again, surely you could not have mechanically failed on all four corners, I could see one, maybe two, but not all 4. Press the petal easy like normal braking, don't force it, then crack the valve until no more bubbles or dirty fluid comes out, tighten the valve and release the brake petal, repeat a lot.

[clay124]

Excuse the prolonged reply. I have been trying to make time to work out this problem but there has been little of it. For the front brakes, I think I might have found the problem for them dragging. The top tube that the caliper mounting bolt goes through did not move back and forth as easily as the bottom caliper mounting bolt. I removed the top tube to discover scrpes and scratches on the tube. So I sanded it down and polished it off. Then relubed and replaced. Same affect. I removed the top tube again and it scrapes and scratches in the same spots. So I ground out the bore of the caliper mounting hole to widen the bore. I did this on both sides. Starting tomorrow I have the next 2 days off and I will polish out the bore on the caliper tomorrow.

As far as the rear brakes, I removed the drums and hardware to discover that the first few teeth on the parking brake lever and self sdjuster were damaged. Thus, I need to know where I can get replacement parts. Local part stores don't carry them.

[kellen302]

Scrapyards as far as I know, or someone on here, I don't think they're available from any sources outside of "used"

[Bert]

I have had experience with 4 Festys so far. Every one of them has a tendency for the rear brakes to rust seize if the car has been sitting for a month or so especially after a snow/rain or damp weather situation with salted parts. I doubled up the brake return springs in one of the cars as an experiment and so far the rear brakes haven't given me any trouble on that one. Pedal feel hasn't changed that I would notice either. This may have nothing to do with your particular problems but does suggest that Festy brakes never were the best in the first place.

[clay124]

I was afraid their availability was limited to scrapyards. When I stated that they were damaged, they are more so stripped. I might try to restore them with a precision flat-head screwdriver.

IMO it seems as though the return spring for the parking brake lever is a little too long and not returning the self-adjuster to its complete position too. Again, it could just be that the teeth are stripped.

[Christ]

The spring/retainer kits have a new spring for the adjustment mechanism as well.

You can also try out springs from other applications if you're unhappy with the fit of one of the springs currently installed.

[clay124]

I did get a new hardware kit that included new springs. The new spring for the self adjuster seemed a tad too long.

[clay124]

Okay, here's where I'm at now. The fronts brakes are fixed. The bore in the calipers that the top floater tube is placed in was too tight. Bored it out and now they are fine.

The rears are still dragging. I even reduced myself to grinding down the shoe pads. Yet, they still drag. The only other solution I can think of is grinding down the shoe where it contacts the wheel cylinder.

[nitrofarm]

The teeth on the adjuster aren't very deep.Thats the way they are supposed to be. And the statement that you made saying the spring seems "Too long" leads me to believe you arent installing something correctly. We have done quite a few "Complete Rear Barke Overhaul's" without any spring length & dragging issue's. Maybe try backing off the Jameson nut a little.

[clay124]

At nitrofarm: I have since retired the Jameson Wrench haha

The teeth on the adjuster are definitely stripped. The first 2-3 teeth have been flattened.

How much tension is supposed to be on the spring that connects from the self-adjuster to the parking brake strut? On mine there is tension but not much.

[clay124]

The metal on metal contact I posted about earlier that I believed to be the brakes dragging is not the brakes. I now think that it sounds like the bearings were replaced with little grease. Both rear hubs sound this way. I am using the Walmart brand Supertech high temp grease. It is lithium based and is a grade 2.

I plan on disassembling both rear hubs, repacking them and checking for defects. Once I disassemble the hubs, can I replace the same parts I removed?

[denguy]

The only problem I had with my Festy rear brakes happened when the brake material on one shoe separated from it and jammed up the works.