I have to get back to Base, but I have a brake failure.

The light came on and the pedal went right to the floor, happened all of a sudden. I thought, ****, gotta get back to where i was staying to diagnose the problem.

I know i am gonna hear it when I say this, I added puddle water to the resevoir to make the 7 km trip to safety. I made it great, but had to pump the peddle to make enough pressure to stop. I butted up against curbs at lights and what not to stop from rolling into intersections, keep in mind this was at 4 am in the morning and I was the only person on the road.

Yesterday I siphoned all the puddle water our of the resevoir and added brake fluid and bleed the system via the drivers front caliper. I did this until good fluid came out, which it did. So now i have all the garbage out of the system, i decide to check for leaks, and for the life of me, I can't find any leaks anywhere.

When the vehicle is off, i can pump the pedal and it gets really awesome pressure and holds it. I start the vehicle and the amount of pumping required is more, and the pressure gradually fades out, but it stops the vehicle at 60km/h very efficently. but i can't find any leaks.

 

My advice is get your *** back to base. Call your supervisor now nd tell them there is a possibility you won't make it to formation. Then, bleed all your brakes starting at the furthest away from the master cylinder and ending with the closest. Get a big bottle of brake fluid and head for base.

 

I second that call your superior go to autozone and grab 2 big bottles of break fluid. Keep one for when you bleed your breaks and keep the other as you partner or your trip back to base. Start bleeding your breaks as stated above asap.

 

Find another way back to base and a place to park your Jeep. The last thing you want is another failure on the way back which leaves you late AND your Jeep by the side of the road.

I had a similar situation once and looking back it wasn't worth taking the insane risks I ended up taking - and had the army found out they'd have been seriously pissed at my lack of judgement.

 

Wow! You're taking some huge risks dude!

When you get past your more pressing priorities and can devote the time to diagnose/service your brake system, then flush it out with denatured alcohol because you introduced water to the system. Flushing the system with denatured alcohol will remove all water. It will also aid in identification of the failed component. I'm thinking you'll find a failed master cylinder.

 

In order of priority:

1. Call the OOD asap and have them enter your call and situation in the logbook and have them inform your command of the situation.
2. Get back to base
3. Get back to base
4. Get back to base

Then:

1. If you can, find, diagnose and fix the problem in time to safely get back. Don't drive it until you are sure the issue is fixed. Last thing you need to do is break down somewhere or worse, cause an accident.
2. Park the rig and go back as soon as you can. Most auto parts shops will let you park the vehicle there if you tell them the issue and give them your info to contact you in case they need to.
3. Oh, btw, did I mention, get back to base

 

I thank you for your input(s), here is the new situation this far. I got a family mechanic to okay the brakes for short term use. Aka to drive it home. I also tried to bleed the rear brakes, but with the bleeder off and in my hand, the brake peddle wouldn't travel anywhere, so i think maybe the rears are blocked? I can't bleed the rears.

 

First off being in the military myself, I would have called my supervisor prior to posting on this forum. I am not aware of you military situation but a supervisor should understand if you call them in advance and you let them know the problem. Instead of you not showing up for work, then he is calling you. Not Good. Like some of the prior post. Be smart, park your jeep, and get back to base. Think about your safety and the safety of everyone else when you drive your jeep on the road in the condition that its in. Good Luck with this and let us know how it turns out

 

More importantly, WE THANK YOU FOR SERVING IN THE US MILITARY!

 

Posting ur probs here wont help u. Call ur superior. Call a buddy, get a cab..get back ASAP. Get ur rig towed..something. right now doing maintenance is uncalled for..get to base first and worry about ur rig later.

 

You sure you tried to bleed the right thing on the rear drums?

 

When one has a brake failure, one has to remember you have a back up brake, the emergency/parking brake, if it has not been abused, it will stop your jeep, it is a totally separate system than your hydraulic brakes

 

IF it losing fluid and you can't find a leak, it may he.going into the booster. I had a car that did that. The master cylinder would leak from the back, into the booster.

 

I MADE IT! LOL.

It wasn't even nerve wracking. I figured that if I had 1.5 hours of highway driving ahead of me, with no stop lights until i get home, then i should be able to drive to the local coffee shop and back for about 45 minutes, checking the brake fluid resevoir every so often. Not only did i have absolutely amazing brakes, the fluid only dropped like a tad (more scientifically, i would say 2 mm) bit. So i filled er up, hit the highway/freeway and was homeward bound (after calling my Seargent). I would also like to mention that I stayed way back just in case and that I downshifted with the ax15 as much as i could to keep from using the brakes. I get home and check the fluid, only down a couple of mm. If the coffee shop and back test failed even once, I was gonna get my gf to drive me back to base. But that would have left me walking to and from for about two weeks, and I got babies so thats not cool.

On the fixing it side of things, I would like to mention that yes, I did have the bleeder nut cracked loose, then in my hand and still no peddle movement, maybe a blocked junction valve thing in the rear???

So if the fluid was leaking into the booster then getting sucked into the motor via engine vacuum would that mean the master cylinder is bad or the booster? I am guessing the master cylinder. Also, how fast will brake fluid kill an engine??? Could it cause a cylinder to misfire if it was left idling for too long?

I just wanted to mention that I am Canadian Military, and that I am glad that we are so close to the US, and even more importantly, I wanted to thank you guys, the people.

A quote they told me a long time ago...

"The task ahead of you is never as great as the power behind you"
(Praise the People)

 

Oh, I can see the concerned faces already... lol, no babies until my army mechanic buddies look at the truck and fix it. lol