Hard Brakes, whistling sound, seems like exhaust gets stinky

[Nicholas7620]

I was driving my B210 this evening and when I came to my second stop sign, the brakes were very hard, no softness at all. There was a whistling sound which continues after car is stopped and continues until I take my foot off the brake pedal.

 

I'm sure the exhaust gets more stinky when I put the brakes on and the engine decreases in RPM. I've only had to drive short distances tonight at speeds less than 25 mph. It just happened this evening.

 

Anyone have this problem?

[kneesamo]

Check out your brake booster.

 

They are vacuum controlled, so if something blew, you might potentially hear some kind of whistling sound.

 

Do B210s even have a brake booster?

 

 

 

[rpowell25]

Power brakes? Does it have a brake booster?

[thisismatt]

Sounds like your brake booster is leaking (sucking) vacuum.

[Nicholas7620]

Thanks for the replies, I will definitely look for a brake booster problem. I'm pretty sure my B210 has a brake booster. I'll check tomorrow P.M. and let everyone know.

 

I just recharged my Digital Camera. I'll post OIC's.

[Nicholas7620]

Thanks for the hints Matt, Powell and Knees, :thumbup:

 

Per the Datsun 1200 Club,

 

Yes, the B210 has a brake booster, I have a 76 B210 and the Brake Booster was added to the B210 to counter the increased weight. Evidently all USA models were equipped with a brake booster. I have front disc brakes and drums in the rear.

 

I found this link from Datsun 1200 club. http://datsun1200.com/modules/mediawiki/index.php?title=B210_Brake_Booster

[metalmonkey47]

Brake booster.

 

 

You step on the brakes and the open the rubber diphraghm in the booster. Cracks or holes in the booster cause a vacuum leak. Pedal gets stiff, engine starts to run rough.

 

 

 

 

Put the car in neutral, hold your foot on the brakes, and rev it slightly. You'll probably notice a misfire.

[Nicholas7620]

Brake booster.

 

 

You step on the brakes and the open the rubber diphraghm in the booster. Cracks or holes in the booster cause a vacuum leak. Pedal gets stiff, engine starts to run rough.

 

 

 

 

Put the car in neutral, hold your foot on the brakes, and rev it slightly. You'll probably notice a misfire.

 

Thanks Metal, That is exactly what happens. The exhaust gets very stinky, smells bad as poop :poop: You are cool man. :cool: Ratsun is cool. :cool: :thumbup: I can work on the Brake power booster Thursday AM, I'll take PIC's.

[ggzilla]

It may not be the booster, it could be in the check valve before it gets to the booster. The last guy who had the whistling problem had a bad check valve.

[josh_t]

It may not be the booster, it could be in the check valve before it gets to the booster. The last guy who had the whistling problem had a bad check valve.

 

funny. mine has the same problem except no smelly exhaust and it works fine with the pedal pressed but when its not pressed it runs like a turd. old M/C leaked brake fluid into it so i'm almost positive thats what caused this. the fluid eating the diaphragm or causing the booster to rust and make a leak (mines rusty), anything i can do inside of it? i can only make it better at this point.

[datzenmike]

Test booster operation:

 

Engine off, pump brakes to use up any residual vacuum in the booster.

Push down firmly on brake peddle and hold.

Start engine.

As vacuum builds the peddle should drop slightly showing that it's working.

[metalmonkey47]

It may not be the booster, it could be in the check valve before it gets to the booster. The last guy who had the whistling problem had a bad check valve.

 

That's a very good point. I didn't even think of that.

[Nicholas7620]

ggzilla, on 12 December 2011 - 11:44 PM, said:

 

It may not be the booster, it could be in the check valve before it gets to the booster. The last guy who had the whistling problem had a bad check valve.

 

That's a very good point. I didn't even think of that.

 

O! O! :o I went for the worst case scenario and ordered a Reman. Booster from RockAuto, got a 5% discount :cool: .

 

I had time today for a peek under the hood and didn't find any cracked hose or anything broken like the gromet. So I ordered the whole unit. It doesn't look very big. I'm not sure what the check valve is but thanks for telling me where it lives.

 

I'll check the manual tomorrow. Should I pre-spray some penetrator on the bolts. It looks like the booster is held on by four bolts. I have to wait until Thursday to disassemble the brake assembly, should be fun, I don't know Jack :poop: about brakes.

 

I know where the brake fluid goes :P .

[crackerjack69]

Take the pin out where the booster connects to brake pedal, unbolt MC from booster, unbolt booster from fire wall. I still can't figure out where to put the blinker fluid, so good luck w/ that :D

[josh_t]

Test booster operation:

 

Engine off, pump brakes to use up any residual vacuum in the booster.

Push down firmly on brake peddle and hold.

Start engine.

As vacuum builds the peddle should drop slightly showing that it's working.

 

 

mine does that except when you rev the motor the pedal will drop some more. and i have plugged the end of the hose going to the booster and left the check valve in the equation and it ran fine.

[josh_t]

mine does that except when you rev the motor the pedal will drop some more. and i have plugged the end of the hose going to the booster and left the check valve in the equation and it ran fine.

 

mine turned out to be partially clogged idle jets just barely on the edge of running right still and the booster leaned it barely and pushed it off the edge. cleaned them and it works fine. it does idle down a couple hundred rpms when you push the pedal. still very driveable tho.

[datzenmike]

Still not right if brakes are affecting the idle/manifold vacuum.

 

How are the brakes? still hard?

[josh_t]

Still not right if brakes are affecting the idle/manifold vacuum.

 

How are the brakes? still hard?

 

 

mine are as soft as it gets. my dads truck does it too. not the idle thing but his and mine you push the brakes and you dont really feel the pedal but all of a sudden his slams on the brakes. mine is more gradual but you still dont feel the pedal much. they work well though so for now i'm satisfied.

[datzenmike]

Well the booster uses manifold vacuum to magnify your push on the peddle so it will feel softer than without. If yours is easy and then suddenly it brakes then perhaps the shoes need adjusting as they are traveling too far before contacting the drum. .

[josh_t]

ah good point. didnt think about that. i understand the basic concept of the booster but i never really understood how it pulls vacuum only when you need it. i might have read about them and forgot. i used to read the automotive text book when the teacher was teaching something lame like what a spark plug does..

[Zfighter76]

booster diaphram blew on my 280z and i had no power brakes (hence the pedal being hard) and the engine would rev up.. that is due the the loss of vaccum if a leak is present. if it boggs down it sounds to me like maybe the check valve isnt working properly. alot cheaper than a whole new thing if it is the problem. check for other manifold leaks also. brake booster wont do much good with other leaks as well

[Nicholas7620]

My friend Albert came over and guided me through the removal of my brake power booster.

 

Here are some OICeeees. Cracker69 gave the following advice which is what I basically did. "Take the pin out where the booster connects to brake pedal, unbolt MC from booster, unbolt booster from fire wall. I still can't figure out where to put the blinker fluid, so good luck w/ that. :D

 

I started out by removing the air filter assembly and hoses attached to the manifold to make room to get at the brake assembly and have room to get the wrenches on the bolts and nuts.

 

 

After all that I continued by disconnecting the Brake Master cylinder from the power booster and the brake line from the firewall. The brake master cylinder was moved out of the way for the brake power booster to be removed.

 

THREE PIC's right, center, left... The check valve is the round brown unit in the first picture, (follow green wire) between the vacuum hoses leading to the power booster.

 

 

In these two PIC's you can see two of the four nuts that hold the Power Booster to the fire wall, the Pin going through the brake upper metal stem was removed.

 

 

 

 

Albert held the Master Cylinder out of the way and I worked the power booster out throught the engine compartment. This all took about an hour thanks to Albert. The shop manual showed where everything was but no guidance on technique.

 

These next four PIC's compare the old booster next to the new booster. After I took the PIC's, I cleaned up the aluminum spacers and used these pics to make sure I put everything in the right place on the new unit. The new unit arrived after Albert left to go have lunch with his girl friend.

 

 

 

Adjusting the new powerbooster to have the right length to the brake pedal upper metal stem is the next step which I want Albert to over see. I'll finish up tomorrow morning and take more PIC's.

[Nicholas7620]

It's Friday morning, PICTURE 1 - The hole in the firewall is where the new brake power booster is going to live and get attached to the brake pedal, firewall and the master brake cylinder is going to be bolted to the engine side. The red roll of tape is there to show where the check valve is attached to the firewall.

 

PICTURE 2 - View from driver's side of firewall. You can see the EGR valve through the hole in the firewall.

 

PICTURE 3 - The new power booster is almost ready to be put in, the brake master cylinder side of the power booster is facing the camera.

 

PICTURE 4 - The brake pedal side of the power booster is facing the camera. You can see the brake pedal clamp is still attached to the OLD brake power booster. We carefully measured the distance between the clamp and power booster housing on the OLD power booster. The distance was 5 1/8th inches. We moved the brake clamp to the new power booster and positioned the brake clamp exactly 5 1/8th inches from the metal housing of the new power booster.

 

 

PICTURE 5 - The new power booster is in place, Albert held the brake lines and master cylinder out of the way while I guided the power booster into place.

 

 

PICTURE 6 The brake master cylinder is attached and tightened to the power booster, the brake clamp has been attached to the brake pedal and the power booster has been tightened to the firewall from the inside of the driver's side firewall.

 

 

PICTURE 7 - My shiny Air Breather. It doesn't do jack, but it looks pretty.

 

 

Remember to remove the negative cable in case the brake light comes on and drains the battery. It's unlikely but better to be safe.

 

We let the engine warm up and then tested the power booster. We did what DATZEN MIKE said to do, with engine off I pumped up the brake until it was rock hard, then started the engine. The brake pedal softened slowly an inch or two.

 

I like my brakes, they are firm now and not spongie like before. The old power booster endured years of attachment to my old leaky master cylinder which I kept filling with brake fluid. The old power booster kept working after I put a new master cylinder.

 

The new power booster came with a warning that a leaky master cylinder would void the warranty :o . If I get another 35 years of life out of the new power booster I will be an exceedingly happy Datsun owner. :P

 

The B210 drives great, fun to drive and has excellent brakes. I like a HAPPY ending ;) .

[ggzilla]

Back on the road again!

[Nicholas7620]

Back on the road again!

 

Yeah, its great to be driving my DATSUN again, When I step on the brake it feel like I'm stepping on concrete and not grass. The pedal is very firm not soft, I like it. :P

 

I like the gas mileage. I get 32 mpg for city and highway driving. Double to triple what my truck gets.