Brake Booster Problem with friends AE86

[scarsofcarma]

Hi everyone, this is an issue with a friends AE86 notchback Corolla.

He needed to replace his brake booster and master cylinder because his master cylinder was leaking fluid into his booster, which in turn was leaking into his interior carpeting. When we removed the booster, it was literally full of fluid to the point that it could've filled a 16 ounce soda bottle.

After replacing the booster and master cylinder with new ones he bought from rockauto.com we are having an issue with the booster not functioning properly. We bench-bled the master before installing it, and we flushed out all the old fluid and bled his hydraulic system 2-3 times in the proper sequence.

Before we started the car, the pedal was nice and firm. As soon as we start the vehicle, the pedal sinks to the floor with no effort whatsover. Pumping the pedal has no effect on raising the pedal or adding pressure when the car is running. But if you turn off the car and pump the pedal, the pressure returns and the pedal doesn't sink to the floor anymore.

Normally I'd say this is just a bad booster... but this one is brand new... and very much a pain to install... so I just want to make sure I didn't miss something before he sends it back and says its defective.

Also, the vacuum check-valve to the booster functions properly we removed that and tested it.



Any suggestions appreciated! Thanks