I assumed that I had a brake leak somewhere because I noticed a lot of fluid under the van and the brakes had virtually no pressure in them. However when I checked the fluid it was just a little shy of being full. If I have fluid why would I suddenly lose brake pressure? Could it have anything to do with the alternator belt breaking? Maybe pieces of the broken belt hit something and knocked it out of whack?
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1991 Ford E-350 Conversion Van 166,000 miles and a lot of heartache.
Reading in my Chilton manual, symptoms sounded like a vacuum pump failure, then read, "Diesel engines have little vacuum available to power brake booster systems. The Diesel is thus equipped with a vacuum pump, which is driven by a single belt off of the alternator."
So it sounds like a broken belt is the culprit after all.
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1991 Ford E-350 Conversion Van 166,000 miles and a lot of heartache.
My experience has been when the vacuum pump goes, the brake pedal is still there, just ROCK HARD (no vacuum assist). If you are positive it's brake fluid, and there is no pressure (pedal goes to the floor), then you probably have a leak in one of the lines. I just had one in the 12 ft long line that goes to the back of the truck about 1/2 the way back.
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1992 2WD F-250 SuperCab 7.3L 5-spd 4.10 rear. Changed to 5w-40 Rotella Synthetic oil in the crankcase & Deep Purple Synthetic ATF in the Trans. 38K on new Jasper longblock, Bought truck from local University (MSU - 09/20/06). Replaced O-rings on return line caps with Viton. Now on to tackling Biodiesel!!
Vacuum pump only powers the brake booster, if it fails you will lose all power assist and pedal will be rock hard and you really won't be stopping a whole lot. Having no brake pressure means the pedal goes to the floor, usually cause by a fluid leak or air in the lines - is that the case, does you pedal hit the floor?
__________________ The more I drink, the more I drink, the more I drink...
'90 F350 XLT Lariat, reg cab, dually, 4.10s, factory tow package, Chevy hydroboost conversion, P3 brake controller - the Hay Express
sorry sorry sorry, i had just waken up when i typed that (and it was a hairy weekend) and mistyped. the brakes are rock hard, there is pressure, i don't know what i meant earlier, i'm just an idiot.
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1991 Ford E-350 Conversion Van 166,000 miles and a lot of heartache.
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