Is there any brake mechanics on BYC or people who know cars??

[kezabel]

Quote:
It sounds like a vacuum leak.
Is coming from the booster or something else under the dash?

With the car running fiddle with the ac/heater controls and see if that makes the sound change.

With the car running press the brake petal and listen for a change in the sound.

The booster has a check valve that holds vacuum so the power brakes work if the engine is not running. how long after the engine stops does the power assist work? It only works for a few pumps so you will have restart the engine and let the vacuum build up again.
example, shut engine off wait 30 secs and try brakes. are they easy like when its running or does it feel stiff.

You can use some small hose. hold one end to your ear and use the other end to track down the sounds location.

Glad someone stepped in! Hubbys still not home.

Daniel seems to know alot! Good luck with your car!

Thanks Daniel The first thing I checked was the the heater because I've had one leak before, its not the heater The sound is coming from under the break pedal, we have found the point where the air is coming from. And yes when i press on the brake pedal the sound changes. And yes the brakes go really stiff after the car is turned off, so does this mean its the brake booster?

 

[kezabel]

You guys are great, I posted the same question on a Honda civic Forum 3 days ago and no one has replied(rude people) oh yeah thats right someone did reply but it was spam in some other language. Peeps on byc are great thankyou so much for trying to help me out with my Mums car, she can't afford to go to the mechanics and all the advice is very much appreciated

I knew I could count on you great people on BYC

 

[tnlorprazer]

OK, does it idle a little rough? Or maybe hesitate when first taking off?

You can check it by taking pliers and pinch off the hose to the brake booster under the hood. It'll be a big hose (the size of your index finger) running from the intake to the brake booster. If the car is running rough when you pinch off this hose it should run smoother. DH said he doesn't recommend this for someone who knows nothing about working on a car. If you mess up you won't have any brakes.

DH said it does sound like the booster. When the car is off, you should be able to press the brake once and it be easy to press and then the next time it'll be stiff but that's normal. But if its stiff the first time you press it then the booster is most likely leaking.

 

[kezabel]

I know a little about cars (just a little) I used to have a ford escort 1972 model that was pulled down so many times to fix it (blown head gasket, melted piston, hug radiator leak through the heater and also the master cylinder going and the water pump, it was the worse car ever) I used to help fix it. I watched and learned lol but that was when I was 18 (now 35) I can change brake pads by my self Woohoo! I'm proud of me lol and I've also replaced a radiator by myself too and removed a thermostat.

I found this site that goes through the steps on how to change a brake booster, It all sounds pretty easy in theory but I know that won't be true when I try to do it. I looked at where the break booster is and the master cylinder and I think the hardest part is going to be having to remove other parts of the cars to get the brake booster out. I think I have to remove all the pollution stuff.

Here is the link, does it sound acurate.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5002767_change-brake-booster.html

 

[kezabel]

Quote:
Actually My Mum was siting in our drive way when the hiss started, She said she put her foot on the brake and she felt a clunk, the pedal depressed and then became really hard and it started hissing and also the car wouldn't idle properly, I didn't realise that the brakes would make the car run rough.

 

[tnlorprazer]

DH said the ehow link looked pretty good. If you follow the instructions it should be doable.

If the booster is bad it can make the car idle a bit rough or when you hit the brakes the idle will change because its losing vaccum.

 

[kezabel]

Thank you so much Tnlorprazer and hubby, all your advice is great

 

[tnlorprazer]

Your welcome! I've subscribed to this topic so if you have any other questions just post them... Good luck!

 

[kezabel]

WOOHOO!!!

we did it lol. I went to the wreckers and got the part for $50 and when hubby got home we started, man some of the bolts are in really hard to get places under the dash, we could just get to one of the nuts and it took ages to get it undone , it would only turn a fraction at a time because of the restricted space. Then trying to get the brake booster out of the tiny engine bay was tricky too but its all done and the brakes seem fine but the pedal is a little spoungie and the car isn't running rough either now it idles properly.

Should we bleed the brakes or is their anything else that should be done ?

Once again thanks for all your advice, it helped us out heaps.
BYC peeps are the best

 

[tnlorprazer]

Congrats! I'm married to a master tech and all I can do is put gas in my car,

.

But he said yes, if you took a brake line aloose you must bleed the brakes.

Congrats again!