Brakes Question

[m swann]

Back to the SA. I bled the brakes in the shop. Great pedal feel and no air coming out of the lines.
As soon as I turn the car on - no brakes. Pedal goes soft and nothing. ??
What am I missing??

[TOOL]

Got to be the brake booster/servo.

[m swann]

Argh ! I was hoping for something else. Anything else. I was delivered a rebuilt one and it is 45 degrees out. So I guess I will have to return it or try and adjust it.
Thanks for the reply.

[TOOL]

What do you mean 45 degrees out?

Pics help.

Are you sure you've adjusted the rods correctly to get the master and booster working correctly?

A failed booster will make the pedal go hard and brakes barely work.

[spirit r]

Bleeder screw are one top? Changed brakes capiler left and right side?
Thomas

[m swann]

Duh. I am still not used to having ability to post pictures.
The booster on the right, where it mounts to the fire wall, is not aligned correctly / the same as the OEM one on the left.
Three choices as I see it
a) try and return it ( at least a week down time)
b) try and adjust booster to proper alignment.
c) re drill mounting holes in the firewall.

Are you sure you've adjusted the rods correctly to get the master and booster working correctly?

I have checked my measurements and free play. The booster is original to the car.

A failed booster will make the pedal go hard and brakes barely work.

Brakes were properly bled after installing the master. They were rock solid until I started the car. Then the pedal went to the floor, I still took it for a short drive. I still had some brakes but only at the very end of the stroke.

Bleeder screw are one top? Changed brakes capiler left and right side?

All calipers rebuilt or new. Master bled, then all four calipers. My helper in this case used to be a master mechanic at a Mazda dealership. Now he is semi -retired. I have learned so much from him over the last eight weeks!

Again thank you for the input.

[m swann]

Well it was the booster; I put my last spare on the car. It is the oldest nastiest looking booster you have ever seen and it should have gone to the scrap heap years ago.....but it works, so it's beautiful to me.

Good pedal now, no problem locking up the wheels. It's all good.

So will now see what Rock Auto is like to return a part ( the incorrectly assembled booster) i'll let you know how it goes.

[Lucky]

IIRC the two halves of the booster are held together by like a giant cogged circlip on the back plate (where it mounts to the firewall) that you need to rotate with a drift to separate it. You may be able to correctly orient it by drifting the fixing around a bit?

...maybe not if you want to send it back, mind, in case it mullers it

[m swann]

IIRC the two halves of the booster are held together by like a giant cogged circlip on the back plate (where it mounts to the firewall) that you need to rotate with a drift to separate it. You may be able to correctly orient it by drifting the fixing around a bit?

...maybe not if you want to send it back, mind, in case it mullers it

Tried to do this. practiced on the Broken one - got no where. Would not budge. Tried once on the "new" one and no luck either. Tried to make a tool like in the manual but still would not move it.

Rock Auto will accept the booster back at no charge to me (probably North America only). Pretty easy to do. Credit back on my card and a prepaid shipping slip off the internet.
They have no more available or they would have done an exchange- remember SA !
So I contacted A-1 Cardone who remanufacture these. They told me I can go to my local Napa store (or AutoZone for the US members) and request an R & R// return and remanufacture. Turnaround time should be a few weeks. No $$ estimate though. Will attempt this later today.

[TOOL]

I had an RX2 booster repaired. I had to get a guy in Oz to send me the kit.

Cost me about £200 iirc.