I have 2 Legacy wagons; a 98 Brighton ( non abs) and a 97 L.

 

The brakes on the 98 seem very weak, compared to the 97. I think the master cylinder was leaking internally, so I changed it. Still the brakes are weak. No air in the system.

 

The power brake accumulator holds vacuum okay. I am out of ideas.

 

I took it to a local mechanic that maintains our postal carriers Subies. He is scratching his head too. He suggested I buy some Subaru pads, because maybe the PO put cheap Autozone pads on it. I have had it only a couple months. Been weak since I bought it.

 

Any ideas?`````````````````

i have a similar problem in my 97 GT. my 97 OBW, great, 95 Lego, great, 97 GT not so good.

 

some one suggested the check valve device? that is in between the front and rear brakes or something like that. i have not addressed it, i don't have a replacement part handy, the 96 lego donor car i have has a different smaller part. it would probably work, but i'm don't want to risk reducing the braking ability of my car more.

 

my next guess was old bad coroded rusted brake caliper on the front. i do have a set of outback calipers i can swap in, but i have not yet. i need to get my toyota running better so i still have a car if something goes wrong.

 

looking forward to other responses.

IIRC, dont the Brightons have rear drum braks instead of disk brakes? If the drum liners got glazed or are inferior quality Im sure that could be part of the problem, though most of the braking power comes from the front brakes. Check all the pads and the rotors/drums, look for signs of excessive heat/unusual wear. If they got too hot and glazed over, have them resurfaced (as long as they arent warped) and get new pads.

 

-Bill

Edited October 9, 200916 yr by The Beast I Drive

I think the statement about the rear drums is in the right direction but i think it has more to do with the adjustment. The way break systems work is that the rear brakes engage first then fronts. This keeps the car from nosediving when stopping. Sooo what I thiny you have going on is the rear shoes need adjusted and maybe replaced. Normally the rear brakes auto adjust bu twhen they get older and rusty they stop working. So you have to go in clean them up then adjust them out by turning the star wheel between the two shoes. If you have more questions I can go into more detail.

The suggestions about checking the rear brake adjustment is good, however any mechanic that works on postal subaru brakes would have surely caught that.

I think your problem is a bad caliper, you can get some brake hose clamps and check them or you can go to some place like Midas and have it checked.

I had a 98 postal subaru that I just could not get good brakes on, I had changed pads, shoes, master cyclinder and many other things. I gave up and went to Midas, it turned out to be the right front caliper, they can leak down without leaking fluild.

Edited October 10, 200916 yr by tcspeer

test your check valve in the vacuum hose to the master cylender

test your check valve in the vacuum hose to the master cylender

 

i hate to be a dummy, but i don't know what it looks like, where it's located or how to test it.

 

is it internal on the booster, or is the nipple? threaded into the intake manifold ? how do it test it. once i find it?

 

brake parts

http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/us_b11/type_25/brake_system/brake_system_master_cylinder/illustration_2/

 

intake parts

http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/us_b11/type_29/intake_and_supply_system_turbocharger/intake_manifold/illustration_2/

He's probably talking about the rubber vacuum line that goes to the brake booster. It's got a few bends in it and a check valve built into it.