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Zero brake pressure unless pumped


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Ea82 88 gl 5 speed.... Things to note: I have blead the brakes in the correct order multiple times. My hill holder stopped working months ago and shortly afterwards I started noticing the brakes getting weaker and weaker. I have 0 familiarity with the hill holder and really can't drive without brakes, please helllpppp

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The hill holder is not your problem unless it is leaking. It is strictly a open/close valve to maintain pressure in the system for hill starts. I suppose it's possible it's not releasing, but then you're clutch would not be working correctly. Your master cylinder is bypassing internally and is toast. Replace it. Make sure to bench bleed it first, the the whole system after install.

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I to would put my money on a bad master cylinder I had a ranger that did the same deal I had to pump The brakes to stop then only a few days later I lost some of my brake fluid in the reservoir but none actually leaked out onto the ground. Took the booster off and it had a lot of fluid in it, so mine was leaking internally and thats why my brakes failed. At least its a pretty easy job to do will probably take longer to bleed the system than it will to actually swap out the master cylinder.

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If the car is 2wd you may just need to adjust the rear shoes.

 

If not adjusted, the first pump of the pedal is just pushing the shoes out, and then on the second or third pump they actually hit the drum and build pressure.

 

4wd cars have auto adjuster....but it can be stuck.....or the rear shoes are way thin.

 

I'd check into the condition of the rear brakes and adjust before replacing a master.

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Check youre rear brakes. i was having a similar issue. no pressure when i first hit the brakes< but after a pump or two, the pedal was ok. Oh, and when i would hit them, the fronts were locking up real easy. made for a fun trip on wet roads. Anyway, pulled the drums and found that the pass. side shoes were just hanging out in the drum. the liners were in the drum, and the backing plates hit the ground as soon as i pulled the drum.

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