57 brake problem- can't get a pedal

[riffraff94526]

  I just replaced the Master, all brake lines and hoses, wheel cylinders, pads and turned the drums. The shoes are adjusted .010 at the top and .015 at the bottom. I have pressure bled everything over and over and then manually bled. I'm NOT bottoming out the piston in the master. I bench bled the master, started bleeding at the front of the power booster then the back of the booster then RR, LR, RF, LF....over and over. I'm using dot 3. I'm not seeing any air in the system but I still can't seem to get brake pressure at the pedal. My first thought was a bad master so I installed a second one and same problem. I can't find any leaks anywhere. I've done MANY brake jobs but this is my first 57 caddy. Any tricks I should know about? Little frustrated!! Thanks in advance for any help. I've learned alot from this forum in the last few years!

Scott Hultquist

[Walter Youshock]

First and foremost--did you have the booster rebuilt?  The Hydrovac on these cars isn't the greatest to begin with.  Also, since the '57 does not have a vacuum tank, pumping the pedal with the car off isn't going to give you that usual pedal feel.

Ed Strain , 6555 44th St N, Pinellas Park, FL 33781
(727) 521-1597  is one of the best rebuilders of these.

Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of '57 Cadillacs!

[Coupe]

Hello Walter, have seen your name on the board for a while. Good to see your back.

Ed Strain rebuilt the booster and master for my '57. He also cautioned me to never power bleed the '57 system, always do it the old fashioned way by pumping the brake pedal. I had a hard time getting my system to bleed properly and called Ed. He said to bleed the master and booster portion alone by unhooking the line to wheels and plugging it then bleed the cylinder in front of the booster.  The '57 is one year only and has basically 2 master cylinders. It does have it's issues. At least you used DOT 3 not 5. It took me a long time to get all the air out of mine with DOT 5. In fact I drove with spongy pedal for a while before it cleaned it self out.

[riffraff94526]

Thanks guys! That's some good information. I don't have pedal even with the engine running. Isn't the brakes supposed to work without the booster? I'll try some more manual bleeding like you suggested and I'll talk to Ed about the booster. His name pops up quite a bit on here. Thanks again for your help.
Scott

[David King (kz78hy)]

It seemed the shop manual had the order to bleed the brake system.  There are 2 fittings on the booster to bleed and if memory serves, the lower is first and then the one on top.  Then it's off  to the wheel cylinders.

David

[Walter Youshock]

That's correct--the bottom fitting bleeds the master and the top bleeds the booster, then it is closest to farthest on the cylinders--LF, RF, LR, RR.

Again, if you haven't had the booster rebuilt, you might be chasing your tail.  Does the brake fluid level stay up in the reservoir?  If not, it could be leaking into the booster itself.  The master is not that big on this car, given the size and weight of the monster it is supposed to stop.  Also, you're sure the shoes are adjusted to spec?

The only thing that actually builds or holds vacuum on this system is the "L"-shaped poppet valve on the cowl.  If that is not working, the vacuum is not going to hold.