Brake Booster woes

[Hemihed426]

OK guys I'm looking at replacing my brake booster and want some words of wisdom on the best way to go at it and should I throw a extra $20 in the collection plate for all the cuss words. I've been getting a pull to the right when I hit the brakes so I figured a caliper wasn't backing off the way its supposed to do so I replaced both calipers and the rubber brake lines. Prob still there, but when I was bleeding the calipers I had my son inside doing the brake pedal pump and every time he mashed the pedal the engine speed would change, indicitave of a vacuum leak which points me towards the booster. I haven't had time to really assess the job to know how hard its going to be, I guess I'll go ahead and change the master cylinder while I'm there since its the oem at 140K. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
BTW: for you guys that have a coil conversion buy the T-Bird brake lines, they are about $10 apiece cheaper and will bolt right up. That little ball for the height sensor won't do you any good anyhow.

 

[Aquabrit]

A good booster should maintain vacuum for quite some time after the car is switched off. So, see if you still have assisted braking a few hours after.

If you do have a leak, then be good to check things like the master cylinder to booster seal and the check valve and it's seal. If you want to replace the check valve, they are about 5 bux at any auto store.

I replaced my booster (needlessly) a year or so ago. Wasn't hard, just time consuming. With the wiper assembly removed the job went well.

I bought an original new booster from Max at Five Star Ford. Cost me around 260.

 

[BAD97LSC]

there is more than one reason why our cars pull when braking, bad tie rods and bad strut rod bushings will also cause a pull under braking, dont assume its the booster till you check those items too. also, anytime i have bled brakes i never had the car running, i always bleed them with the car off, not sure if one way is right or wrong, but i never had a problem doing it that way. if you have to change the booster, you might want to set up some empty beer bottles and have a bb gun near by so you can take out your anger when changing the booster. just getting the nuts off the booster inside the car near the brake pedal is fun, never mind getting it out of the engine bay once unbolted.

 

[Hemihed426]

there is more than one reason why our cars pull when braking, bad tie rods and bad strut rod bushings will also cause a pull under braking, dont assume its the booster till you check those items too. also, anytime i have bled brakes i never had the car running, i always bleed them with the car off, not sure if one way is right or wrong, but i never had a problem doing it that way. if you have to change the booster, you might want to set up some empty beer bottles and have a bb gun near by so you can take out your anger when changing the booster. just getting the nuts off the booster inside the car near the brake pedal is fun, never mind getting it out of the engine bay once unbolted.

I've replaced both upper and lower control arms as well as strut rod bushings,TRW T-bird stuff, new calipers and brake lines. The brakes bled up just fine, what makes me think booster is the erratic change in RPM's when applying the brakes at idle. I haven't checked the tie rod ends but that wouldn't explain the erratic idle though.

 

[turborich]

Don't get a POS booster from autozone! I did & the damn thing has been leaking since the replacement. See if you can get one from Max. The extra money is well spent since you will only have to do the job once! I still need to change mine out again.