Squishy Brakes

[SoCalDMC12]

Hi Folks,

Wondering if I can solicit some advice:

Lately, I've noticed that my brake pedal is real squishy. At first I thought I was just not use to driving my Delorean any more (only drive it once every 1-2 weeks because of school, though that's gonna change soon). But now I feel there's definitely a problem.

I brought it to a local mechanic who, after BARELY driving it in his parking lot, said that it was a bad master cylinder. Plausible, I suppose, but I'm wondering if it could be anything else (i.e. perhaps an air bubble in the lines).

Thoughts?

- Geoff

[opethmike]

Is the master cylinder original? If so, I agree with the mechanic. The rubber inside of it is simply not going to last 35 years.

Take off the access panel, and look for signs of external leakage. It is also possible for it to leak internally. In either event, if it is original - replace.

[SoCalDMC12]

Is the master cylinder original? If so, I agree with the mechanic. The rubber inside of it is simply not going to last 35 years.

Take off the access panel, and look for signs of external leakage. It is also possible for it to leak internally. In either event, if it is original - replace.

Probably original... I never replaced it in my 12 years of ownership. Is this an easy DIY job, or best left to the pros?

[Jonathan]

I agree with the likely assessment that it's the brake master cylinder.

Is it an easy DIY job?

My own take on our cars is that nothing we work on is particularly "easy" or simple for that matter.

Where does it rank on the pain in the rump scale? Probably somewhere in the middle between changing your air filter and changing your TABs.

Would you consider changing out your own water pump? It's of similar complexity to that job. Not all that hard to access and you need to refill the fluid and purge out air from the system before calling it finished.

It's less difficult than changing out a fuel accumulator. but more difficult than changing out a coolant reservoir.

[opethmike]

If you are familiar with the concept of bench-bleeding, and purging air from your brake lines, you are good to go on doing it. If you are not, pay someone to do it, this is your safety after all.

Though, I will politely disagree with Jonathan, as I think these cars are cake-easy to work on.

[SoCalDMC12]

If you are familiar with the concept of bench-bleeding, and purging air from your brake lines, you are good to go on doing it. If you are not, pay someone to do it, this is your safety after all.

Though, I will politely disagree with Jonathan, as I think these cars are cake-easy to work on.

About the most complex thing that I've done is change out my alternator. Since brakes are rather "mission critical", will probably just leave it to the pros.

[opethmike]

Definitely the right call if someone hasn't walked you through it before. Not worth learning by trial and error with brakes!

[Jonathan]

Good call on the safety aspect and letting someone else handle the work. There are easier, and less crucial, things to do yourself if that's your comfort level.

The jury is out on what is easy or simple on these cars. To me anyway. A function of how other stuff in life is going I suppose. If you are coming up aces in all the other areas in life, the proverbial chip leader, then yea, most things on the car are a piece of cake and wouldn't frazzle you much doing them. If you're on the other end of that spectrum though, you might just use something frustrating on our cars like a rusty bolt or tight work area to snap and go ape-shit with a sledgehammer on the car or whatever else might be close by.

[opethmike]

Good call on the safety aspect and letting someone else handle the work. There are easier, and less crucial, things to do yourself if that's your comfort level.

The jury is out on what is easy or simple on these cars. To me anyway. A function of how other stuff in life is going I suppose. If you are coming up aces in all the other areas in life, the proverbial chip leader, then yea, most things on the car are a piece of cake and wouldn't frazzle you much doing them. If you're on the other end of that spectrum though, you might just use something frustrating on our cars like a rusty bolt or tight work area to snap and go ape-shit with a sledgehammer on the car or whatever else might be close by.

To be fair, I have a pet gorilla that I've trained to turn wrenches for when I encounter rusty ones.

[opethmike]

His name is Pickles.