Low/softish brake pedal

[Mike W.]

I do not have a good feel on the brake pedal. Seems like it goes down further than it should and is a bit soft. One pump of the brakes and it feels ok, maybe not great, but not bad. And seems to stay there even on a long downhill.

Last year, 10K ago, I attacked this, I bled the holy **** out of them. I adjusted the handbrake and adjusted up the rears manually until I could barely turn the wheels by hand and it was better. Not great, but better. Approaching and maybe even OK. That was last year, now I'm back where I was.

Engine not running, vacuum bled off, pedal is nice and high, rock hard and will not sink to the floor with either hard or soft pressure. I've been playing with cars a long time and it doesn't feel like a bad M/C. I could be wrong, but it doesn't feel like a bad one. I had the drums off and the auto adjusting mechanism seem to be working fine. Shoes in back and pad in front are fat, maybe not like new, but perhaps 75%. Maybe more. Hand brake is adjusted and works well.

[Rockwood]

I don't think the rear adjusters do all that great a job of keeping the shoes adjusted over time. I jack mine up once a year and adjust up the rear shoes manually.

I do like a high firm pedal. Try tightening up the slop between the master cylinder rod and your brake pedal. I have mine set at less than half the spec in the manual. I don't ride my brakes, so i am comfortable with that and it does help the feel quite a bit for me.

[Mike W.]

Hmm, not the answer I was hoping for, but I do appreciate your response and at least I'm not alone. And it looks like my initial actions of adjusting the rears up tight wasn't a bad move either.

I recently had to rebuild a front caliper on my BMW E36, it was sticky, but not pulling or anything. And I could swear the pedal is higher now. Not much, just a tad. I wonder if I should just rebuild the calipers? And if I do that, maybe hoses too. If I do calipers and hoses, almost seems like I might want to do the master cylinder too. Arggg, what a slippery slope.

[AS_The_Crow_Flys]

When was the last brake fluid flush. Maybe check the brake lines to.