hard brake pedal- great start to the day!!

[dizdak]

left out this mornnig heading to work, everything is normal, until i get about 4 miles down the road to a nice busy intersection, apply the brakes, had to stand on them them while down shifting to get her to stop..pedal hard as a rock!! after stopping i got a "normal" pump then hard pump.. make a u-turn head back home (very carefully) by the time i get home i have nothing but a rock solid pedal, i feel the brakes working slightly..So, i am leaning toward brake booster, looked at all the vacuum lines and all look good..in pricing the brake booster it has for options like cruise control, yes i have that, and vacuum booster - that is my double check point, i beleive i have that, it is that little canister mounted to the driver side wheel well correct? it has lines from it to the brake booster..thanks fellas..

 

[riphip]

Check the vacuum with a gauge. If you turn on your A/C & air does not blow out the center vents, low vacuum (as long as you have not had a problem w/A/C). Vacuum pump may have gone south.

Rick

 

[dizdak]

thanks, a/c usually does good... kicked it on, only blowing through the defroster vents, won't come out the other vents.. So i guess i need the vauum pump.. i didn't see that listed on autozone, is there a different name for it?

 

[dgr]

A1-Cardone 64-1006, 64-1008 It's something like that but look it up for YOUR truck.

Check for a loose vacuum hose, too.

 

[dizdak]

this pump is located right next to the oil fill neck correct?

 

[dizdak]

found the pump at the parts store, so gonna get it swapped out this weekend.. thanks for the suggestion..

 

[rjglenn]

Before you go and buy a pump please check everything for leaks. By that I mean all the vacuum lines, and the rubber grommet where the vacuum line plugs into the booster. It is unlikely to be the pump. Three times I have had the same issue. Once it was the AC vacuum line at the door for max AC, once it was the main AC vacuum supply, and most recently it was the rubber grommet where the vacuum supply connects to the booster. All this is cheap rubber and plastic, and its all old...

 

[dizdak]

10/4.. i will double check those..but am thinking its the pump, my buddy hit it a few good times with the ratchet the other night while i was holding the brakes and it started working so am thinking something is sticking inside the pump.. in looking at it does the pulley the belt rides on have to be pressed on and off?

 

[dizdak]

or does that pulley even get removed when replacing the pump?

 

[dgr]

It's been awhile. Doesn't that pulley have a ring around the small part just like a power steering pulley? The auto parts store will have a puller to take it off and a bolt and washer or piece of allthread, nut and washer is used to put it on. Make sure you look at how it is aligned so you can get the new one on in the right place.

 

[dizdak]

i will have to look closer at it tonight when i get home to see... gonna pick the new one up tonight also...

 

[79jasper]

Yep, power steering pulley puller.

 

[dizdak]

thanks guys.. got the pully off with a puller we had, bent the pully a little in the process somehow though... pressing the pully back on was a real pain with out a press.. but its done and the pulley has a little shimmy but the belt seems to ride ok..not gonna worry too much about it, plan on selling the truck in a few months anyway..

 

[icanfixall]

Well you found out why this pulley has that lip to remove it. Removing it from the outer belt edges ruins the pulley every time. If you ever have to remove another one without the power steering pully kit try heating up the pulley on the worn out pump. It will come off easier and may not get ruined and have a shimmy. Warming up the pulley to 250 degrees will make it press on the new pump much easier too. They usually install easy too. Not understanding why you had issues installing it on the new pump.

 

[dgr]

...The auto parts store will have a puller to take it off and a bolt and washer or piece of allthread, nut and washer is used to put it on.

Did I just quote myself?
If an autoparts store wouldn't change the pulley for me while I was standing there, I would find a new store to shop at. I would spend the $25 on a pulley and take it as a good lesson learned.

Regardless, glad to see you got it going again. I'm guessing you had trouble getting the new one on because you didn't have an impact driver to run the bolt in?