Hi Jim,
Thanks for your hint. Actually, I took it all apart and did the
rebuild deed a couple of weeks ago. That was how I was able to confirm my
thought that it was the MC at fault. The little curved washer behind the
cup had gone flat, and the cup itself had gone flabby. Between the two,
the port was not being uncovered, and there was some mung in the port as
well.
What I found also was a lot of sediment in the reservoir, similar in
consistency to the mung in the port. I last had the MC apart in 1958, so
don't remember what it was like at that time. There was some water in
the MC this time, but it was dark brown, in drops contained in the
silicone fluid. There was none in the lines--well, at least none came out
when I pumped another pint of fluid through the system, just to clear out
any thing that shouldn't have been in there.
Brakes seem fine now.
Today I have been trying to rig a third brake light. It's not quite
done yet, and I may scrap the idea because of its surpassing ugliness,
but the thought of a SUV entering my fuel tank, having passed through the
spare tire first, may make it look better. At this point I have made an
aluminum bracket out of 1' x 3/16 stock. Drilled one end to fit over the
spare tire's upper bolt, then bent it to pass under the hubcap. It goes
up just high enough to allow for fastening of a 2.5x4" light. I'm
sorting out the wiring now--think I will use Lucar connectors at the back
of the light, run a lead to a tail-light and have lucars there also.
Then, to use it, just plug in the long (3 ft wire), and to remove because
of ugliness, just unbolt the bracket, disconnect the lucars, stow the
wire in the back of the spare tire, and wait till paranoia approaches
again.
Bob
On Sun, 2 Nov 1997 12:21:52 -0500 (EST) JMerz140@aol.com writes:
>Hi Bob,
>Here's my .02 about your brake switch problem. Refer to your Shop
>Manual on
>Page M.4. In addition to the larger fluid flow orfice, there is a
>very small
>second hole in the bottom of the master cylinder reservoir that most
>people
>overlook. I've read that its only .010" in diameter. The Manual
>identifies
>it as a compensating orfice and its purpose is to equalize any
>pressure
>caused by heat or whatever by allowing fluid to return to the
>reservoir. If
>this fluid pressure is not allowed to equalize, it might cause a brake
>light
>switch to remain in the closed or brake light on position.
>The fix could be as simple as inserting a proper sized wire into the
>hole to
>clear it. The hazard is that the wire could damage the rubber cup if
>it is
>mispositioned in its bore. The safest way is to disassemble the MC
>and check
>it. An inbetween method might be to gingerly probe the hole with the
>thin
>wire and stop if you think you're hitting the rubber cup. You're
>faced with
>the question, "am I hitting the cup or is it the rust/dirt
>obstruction?"
> Good luck. Jim
>
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