Real easy brake question...

[Rick Biarritz]

I cannot believe, by the way, that the shop manual (which I possess) does not have this info, but here goes...

How high is the fluid supposed to be in the master cylinder?  How near the top should it be?  I see no markings on the reservoir, and all the shop manual says is that the rear most well "might be as low as one inch from the top" if the front linings are worn.  Thanks all. 

[bill henry]

it should be full with new linings and never full with worn linings.

[TJ Hopland]

Wouldnt it be important to know what type of brakes we are dealing with?   Seems like drums (4 wheel) should always be at the same level (with the pedal released) since the wheel cylinders should always fully retract? It should not matter the thickness of the shoe lining or if they are self adjusting or not.  It would only be discs where you would expect the level to drop with worn pads because some fluid will be staying in the caliper to make up for the loss in the pad/ rotor thickness. 

I only ask the question because on this site there are lots of folks likely to be dealing with drum brakes.

[Rick Biarritz]

I found my answer, but let me tell you, I'm getting a bit irritated with this gigantic 10,000,000 page shop manual for which I paid decent money.  It is woefully uninformative for the novice.  For example, my suspension lubrication.  I'll look again (for the 3rd time) but I'm telling you, other than saying to lube the front end every x miles or x months, there is no other information!  How about showing me where the lube fittings are or telling me how many there are.  The shop manual for my 69 Polara has that info.  Am I just presumed to know? 

[TJ Hopland]

What car and manual are we talking about here?

[Rick Biarritz]

The GM issued shop manual.

[Carfreak]

What car

Should we presume a 1983 Eldo?

http://www.cadillaclasalleclub.org/forum/index.php/topic,105707.msg133670.html#msg133670

[Rick Biarritz]

Yeah.  Sorry about that.  83 Eldo Biarritz.

[76eldo]

Rick,

The simple stuff is in your owner's manual.  Maintaining brake fluid level is explained, and there are markings on the plastic reservoir.

The shop manual is for trained GM Mechanics, but a layman can understand the manual, and it is divided into logical sections.

Cadillac would not put that basic info into the shop manual because a mechanic would know how full to keep the master cylinder.  Keep it almost up to the top, make sure the rubber parts on the lid are folded flat, and if you suspect a leak or are having issues with your brakes that you are not comfortable diagnosing and repairing, take the car to a mechanic just to be safe.

Brian

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I agree.   It is the Owners Manual that was printed for the "Lay-person", and if what is required isn't in there, then it is usually the norm to visit the Dealer.

Bruce.

[Glen]

Shop manuals for newer cars are not as helpful as the older manuals.  The manual for the wife’s 02 Buick is two volumes each twice the thickness of the 1968 Cadillac manual.  It has no description of how the systems work.  It has very detailed info about voltages etc. but good luck finding the location of components.  Luckily for me it has connector pin locations.  I fixed the traction control today with information from the internet first and the shop manual second. 

Glen

[TJ Hopland]

The online stuff sometimes has a great pic of the screw on the plate you need to turn but they fail to tell you where the heck that plate is on the car.  They need to get it like an Iphone app where you can just zoom out to see where the heck you are.

[bill henry]

Wouldnt it be important to know what type of brakes we are dealing with?   Seems like drums (4 wheel) should always be at the same level (with the pedal released) since the wheel cylinders should always fully retract? It should not matter the thickness of the shoe lining or if they are self adjusting or not.  It would only be discs where you would expect the level to drop with worn pads because some fluid will be staying in the caliper to make up for the loss in the pad/ rotor thickness. 

I only ask the question because on this site there are lots of folks likely to be dealing with drum brakes.

I agree my bad.