What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Hydro Boost Rocks! UPDATE @ BOTTOM

Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Ok I've been reading again... I was reading on a site about the GM light truck 4 wheel ABS system, which my truck has. It says that some are prone to a failure where the brake pedal goes to the floor and the vehicle just coasts. This is exactly what my truck is doing. Also, I have the front wheel sensors disconnected since I have a Dana 60 with no sensors now. I have always had an ABS light on on the dash since the sensors are now gone. It has been fine for a year or however long I've had it this way. Could this be the problem?
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Ok, made some more revelations. As soon as I start touching the brakes the pump sounds like it's just pumping gobs of fluid. Like it does when you turn to full lock and the steering hit's the stops... Sounds like it's just pumping all it has to and from the brake booster and sends it back to the resevoir. I took the ram off and it still pumps fluid out the filler neck when I hit the brakes.

I was origionally thinking the no steering power was from the pedal going down so far that there is something happening in the booster that reverts all fluid back to the pump but it does it as soon as I get on the brakes at all and makes that extremely loud noise.

Another weird thing is that when I push the pedal down the normal amount as if it was working normal the brakes work pretty good, not near enough to lock them up or anything but they do work ok. But if I push through that and down to the floor the brakes just seem to let go.

I'm running out of ideas here...
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Hey,
Still sounds like a bad master cylinder to me. You are catching it on it's way out. Soon it will go down to the floor everytime. I'm sure that stock one has been through alot with the larger tires and the heavy bleeding of the brakes through your axle work and the pure weight of that monster crew cab. A pedal will never hit the floor unless your master is bad.(or a leak in the system..but we have worked out that the system is well otherwise.)

I don't have a hydrobosot system(yet) but is there anyway to reverse the hookup of the high pressure lines at the booster ?

Blake
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Yeah, I think that is my next step tomorrow. Install a M/C. Thanks for all the help everyone /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

On the ABS comment. A couple friends and I were just talking about this subject last night. One of the friends has a 1/2 ton GMC with antilocks and it is giving him problems. THe other friend is a GM Mechanic and he said that it would be fine to pull the ABS fuse and disable the ABS and the brakes will still work fine.

Not sure if it relates 100%, but passing it on.
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Well crap. I replaced the master cylinder and the thing still hits the floor... It is the exact same feel as it has been, not firmer at all. /forums/images/graemlins/angryfire.gif

Ok, heres what I'm thinking now... I noticed my E-brake pedal is going to the floor too and won't hold me on a slope. Could my rear brakes either be so far out of adjustment or worn that it's causing this? In my old truck I had 2 blone wheel cylinders in back and the pedal still didn't go to the floor... But what do you think? I'm taking it to a shop tomorrow... I can't afford this anymore.
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Yes that could cause it, the rear wheel brakes set the pedal height. Soooo if the adjusters are frozen that could cause your pedal to hit the floor because of all the fluid that needs to be displaced to engage the rear brakes.
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Welp, I'm going to go out and pull the rear tires and check out the drums, since the newer ones just slide off. Anything in particular to look for? I've never messed with drum brakes before other than bleeding them.
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

I just finished reading all of this...
I feal for ya man...

The rear brakes is your low soft brake peddle problem. No doubt about that.
Take off the wheels and drums.
Look for any obvious breakage.
Pry back the dust boots on the wheel cylinders and see if fluid comes out.
Turn the star wheel till the shoes get tight on the drum and back it off a few clicks (you can do this from the access hole in the back of the backing plate with the wheels on if you want).

Tell us what you find.
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Hay Jason i didn't read every post but i think your brakes are find, it sounds like you don't have enough pressure for the hydroboost to work.
Try pumping yor brakes 5 or6 times with the engine off to release the fluid in the accumlator.Your brake pedal should get harder.
Then apply pressure to the brake pedal & hold it.Then start your truck, your brake pedal should drop to the floor then push back up a little.
If it doesn't, it could be the PS. pump is not putting out enough press. or the booster is bad. By the way, who drill & tap the new fittings on the str box? Laters, /forums/images/graemlins/truck.gif /forums/images/graemlins/usaflag.gif
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

First thing I did was replace the power steering pump which was mentioned above and my steering with the ram is awesome so I know I have a good pump now.

The box was done by Matt at West Texas Offroad and he is gone to Moab right now...

Ok, I went out and tried to turn the start adjuster using a brake adjustment tool through the little slot and it would not move. So I pulled the wheel and drum off and there is a lock on the adjuster star... Now know this in advance, I have worked on everything on a vehicle except drum brakes so don't laugh at me too hard... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Ok, the pads were about 3/16" thick, what are they new? There is a 1/16-3/32" deep groove in the drum and there are minor surface cracks all over the inside. Theres not too much rust on everything but the truck just went through 4 feet of mud/water Feb. 1st on our trip to Raines so I'm assuming it played a part in all this. I'll check the boots on the wheel cylinder tomorrow when it's light again.

Thanks again for all the help with this, sounds like I may actually be finding the problem...

Going on 6 days with no truck now.... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

what do you mean by a "there is a lock on the adjuster star"? Is the adjuster rusted, or are you talking about the adjuster arm pivots off the brake shoes and rests on the star and allows the the adjuster to rotate in one direction?
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Yeah, the adjuster arm thing. The way it's on there, I can't turn the star in either direction unless I lift it off.
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Slide a screw driver in beside the spoon (or in another slot) to push the adjuster up off the star just a bit, then you can adjust manually...
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

Sounds like your drums are toast.
I ended up doing the disc brake swap after seeing the price of new drums.
 
Re: Hydro Boost Sucks!

That should be the adjuster arm, not a lock.....right? It should allow the adjuster to be turned in order to tighten the brakes (against the drums) but not allow it to loosen. Otherwise it would be impossible to adjust the drum brakes without taking the tire/wheel and drum off every time and it would defeat the self-adjusting properties. Though it's pretty common for just a little water and mud to cause the adjusters to not "adjust" any more.
 
Re: Hydro Boost Rocks!

I know some of you were asking how this all came out...

Well, I just finally fixed it 20 minutes ago... The steering is awesome and the brakes are perfect.

First what I did was completely remove the ABS system to get rid of any possibilities it had air or something in it, it wasn't hooked up anyway so it was just dead weight.

Next I put in an Off Road Unlimited Brute Force master clyinder made for the larger Ford dual piston front calipers and rear discs (for when I switch to discs). Also installed there proportioning valve since the old one was built into the ABS module.

Next I replaced all the lines, and I mean all the lines from the hard line down to the wheels.

After doing this my brake pedal was much better as in it didn't travel near as far but the steering was still the same and I still felt like I had no power brakes.

So, I next replace the hydro boost unit itself and the brake pedal was noticeably smoother but still felt as if there was no power and steering was still unchanged.

Well, I had replaced the pump before doing any of this as read above so I didn't think it could be the problem, but sure enough, I went to Kragen and bought a new pump and installed it and presto, brand new steering and brakes! The brakes work great, smooth pedal easy to push, locks up all 4 on command. Steering I can sit still with foot on brake and crank it left and right with ease /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

So, after throwing almost $1100 at it it's fixed /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif You may wonder why I did the master cylinder and all that before trying the obvious. Well before any of this happened, my brakes always felt strange. It would pull to the left, and the fronts felt like they did nothing. So I contaced Steve at ORU and he was telling me about how the stock front brakes on this truck are a low drag caliper and require the use of a quick take up valve in the master cylinder. So my stock cylinder had this valve which was seriously conflicting with the Ford Dual Piston non-low drag calipers. So I purchased there much larger master cylinder made to work with this setup and it is so much better now. Braking is even and pulls perfectly straight, also stops the truck now! /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

The old hydroboost system wasn't bad, but was on it's way out, I could tell a noticeable difference in how the pedal felt as it went down, it used to pulsate when now it's nice and smooth.

And last but not least, the origional replacement pump was from Autozone, and apparently they do not know the difference between a hydroboost system and a vacuboost system and sold me a vacuboost pump that couldn't keep up with everything. So after going back to them trying to get an exchange this morning, and spending an hour trying to explain the difference, and hearing "no comprendo" for the 30th time, I headed up to Kragen. Was in and out in 5 minutes with a confirmed hydroboost style pump.

Oh happy day /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif Been chasing this problem for 4 months.

Sorry for the novel but wanted to make sure the interested parties knew exactly what the outcome was and how every part helped/didn't help.

Thankyou for your time /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re: Hydro Boost Rocks!

right on, man... It rocks when things that have been bothering you for so long, Finally get fixed.
 
Re: Hydro Boost Rocks!

Glad you got it going. However, there is no difference in vacuum boost and hydro boost pumps as far as pressure/volume are concerned. Only the reservoir is different. Maybe you just got a bad pump. Did you check the pressure relief valve? Sometimes they stick open and just bypass all the pressure back to the reservoir. Could it have coincidentally been corrected while swapping pumps? Just some further thoughts for any future searchers...
 
Re: Hydro Boost Rocks!

Right on. Everytime I come to a stop I think to myself, "Man this thing stops fast". I love my hydroboost and will never go back to vacuum assist! Congrats /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom