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M109A2 having brake issues

BigEMobileTech

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Virginia
Hey how goes it? I do not own a duece myself but I my clients have several and I am finding myself working on them more and more. Case in point is I am having an extrememly frautrating issue with the brakes. My customer complained no brake predal, so I performed a visual insepection of the truck and had my brother pump up the brakes. I noticed that the Rear most axle was damp at the bottom of the backing plate. Simple enough right? So I replaced the wheel cylinder and flushed the last lines with dot 5 since it seemed to have had a mix of a glycol based fluid. After several attempts of bleeding the brakes I just could not get the air out. I cleaned dirt and debris from lines and hoses and could not find a single drip of fluid anywhere. So I checked to see if i was getting air directly from Master by installing a hose at the nipple on the air pac. Sure enough plenty of bubbles. Replaced M/C. Bled brakes still pedal on floor except this time i could build and hold pressure, but as soon as you let off the pedal fluid and air comes surging through the resevoir, ok so I disassembled the air pac and found brake fluid in the piston chamber and also the o-ring on the compensating piston deteriorated as well as the activting piston seal cup for the air side was also deteriorated. I rebuilt the air pac and i am having the same issue no change in pedal. I can sit there and get about 4" of pedal if i bleed them and pump the stuffing put out them but as soon as you release the pedal and depress it again it goes straight to the floor. Any assistance on this matter would be greatly appreciated. I am already losing money on this job and at this point i just want to get my customers truck back up and running so he can put it back to work.
 

gimpyrobb

dumpsterlandingfromorbit!
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Cincy Ohio
Have you bled the air pack?

I'd say it also sounds like the brakes need adjusting. .015thou top and bottom works well.
 

silverstate55

Unemployable
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
UT
I had a similar problem with a friend's truck, I am awaiting a brand-new AirPak as I have rebuilt the old one twice and each time it gets worse (similar to problems here and in Frank's link). Rustystud commented in another thread I posted in, that he thinks it might be the small piston inside the slave cylinder portion of AirPak, it might be worn out or scored/damaged/etc....

Let me guess: this AirPak of yours is the long style, isn't it? Do you have any spare AirPaks lying around to try swapping pistons out of? Just a thought....
 

BigEMobileTech

New member
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Location
Virginia
The small piston located in the slave cylinder had a bad seal cup on the air side of the slave, after multiple tests i ended up blocking off the rear most axle so he can finish the job. The right wheel cylinder finally showed its true colors and came back to a puddle on the inner wheel. This truck has been neglected for some time so we are going to pull each wheel replace or rebuild each wheel cylinder and replace brake shoes. The pedal still is not perfect but it is holding and stopping. I will likely remove the air pac once again and check the small piston bore if there is any pitting then i will replace the air pac.
 

rustystud

Well-known member
9,071
2,388
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Location
Woodinville, Washington
I have talked with the shop foreman at "Precision Rebuilding" about our air-pacs. They are one of the few main rebuilders out there that even touches our air-pacs or the dual master cylinders. They perform complete rebuilding of the air-pacs and one of the things they do on all rebuilds is ream out that small cylinder bore and install a stainless steel sleeve there. According to the foreman they all are bad. I have had good luck with a small hone and some patience. You never can get them completely straight, but you can come close and close seems to work. I also paint the top portion of the air-pac by that bore. That way the rust doesn't form as quickly and eventually end up down that bore.
 

Jericho

Well-known member
1,179
68
48
Location
Landaff NH
Rusty do you have a good name and number for the M 35 A2 air pac rebuild shop, phone, Name , would like to send mine in if its cost effective compared to a new one. thanks
 
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