Brake issue after trail run

Hey guys, I almost didn't make it home on Saturday after the run. On the trail, I noticed that my breaks were getting sloppy (soft peddle). I chalked it up to the amount of water crossings we did, and didn't think any more of it. That was until I got about a mile outside of our parade watching spot, and my cluster's breaks light started flashing and beeping like mad. I almost had to stand up on the breaks to get the Jeep to stop. I found the closest gas station, checked my fluid level, and the reservoir was empty, so I went inside to buy some and filled it up. I inspected all four wheel areas for signs of leaking, but the entire bottom of the Jeep was still fairly wet.

I made it back to Lowell, where the local Shell mechanics were still there so I stopped in to ask about it. The res was at about 3/4, and there was clearly a leak on the front right line. The lines seemed to be intact, but the nut holding it onto the caliper was very loose. They tightened it, and I pumped the peddle without the Jeep's engine on, and it seemed to have fixed the issue.

Come out to drive it today, the level still looks ok, but the peddle is extremely soft.

Anyone have any ideas, or want to come up to Lowell to take a look at it?

bleed the brakes and you should be good to go.

I've never done that before, but I found a write up on it here. Does this look right?

Write up looks good, but most people don't have those fancy things. I took a small clear tube and ran it into the cap of a poland springs bottle to be my catch resevoir at the brake calipers. It's certainly a 2 person job. I won't be around today but I could help you tomorrow if you were available then.

Mark maybe you could swing by as well?

It might also be a good idea to get new caliper washers for the fronts (I assume you still have drums in the back?)

I do. Do the hydrolic break lines not go to the back as well? The write up only mentioned checking the front breaks.

If you've got the bleeder/catch basins, great!

The brake lines to the back feed from a T-Block that is on the drivers side of the rear axle. From there it travels to the inner section of the drums. I've never bled drums before, so I'm not sure about that but I can't imagine it's that much different.

The bleeder kit at Autozone is only 8 bucks, so I'm not terribly concerned with that. I'm pretty sure that the rear drums aren't a problem. Since it's a two person job, I could definitely use a hand with it.

Yeah, I've done it on the YJ before (and the motorcycle too, actually). It's not hard, but it's definitely a two-person job because you have to have one person work the brakes while the other opens and closes the bleeder.

A bit of tubing, an open-ended wrench, a bottle, and a container of brake fluid is all you need. I've got all of it already sitting in the workshop. I can be available tonight if you'd like, and just bring it over when I go.

Let me know! (I'm having fun using all the bizarre icons on the new site)

That would be awesome, Geoff. Give me a call when you're ready to come up, and I'll give you the directions.

I had a thought... any chance you think it was when you were flexing towards the end of the run that you may have torn your brake line (passenger front caliper hose)?

Yeah, first thing to check before we do anything is verify that it's not leaking anymore and that the level has not dropped any.

Sounds good, though. I'll give you a call after I get home and change, let out the dogs, etc.

yeah, after seeing that picture I had to go out and recheck. There was no further leaking, and the level is holding steady.

Sweet.

Did you two get a chance to figure things out?

Yup, got everything bled and got his brakes back.



The only hiccup was when one of the bleeder valves wouldn't budge even with PB and a vice grip and started to strip. Then I realized I was an ass and I should probably use the socket instead of the wrench to break it loose. (I was using the open ended wrench that was needed for the opening and closing) (The code is "rabbit", but this icon totally looks like "duhuuuuhhhhh" to me, ha ha)

After that, smooth sailing.

Oh, yeah...and an interesting moment of rolling when I forgot "put it in gear" means something different for automatics, ha ha. (This icon still cracks me up. It looks like Goku).

Yup, Geoff came over on Monday night, and we bleed all four break lines. It's now breaking better than it ever has, and it doesn't make that awful screeching noise when I release the breaks. Yay, us!