Priya's SX/4 project

[IowaEagle]

Sounds like air in the system somewhere.  Did you bench bleed the master cylinder?  And the rest of the system after you installed the MC?

[priya]

Hi Priya,.. Let us know when you find the cause of your fading brakes. I'm having a similar problem with mine, One morning my pedal just hit the floor so I checked for low fluid, but  it was still full. So I decided the master cylinder must be the culprit and changed it. That solved nothing, so since I can't find any leaks, fluid or vacuum, I'm thinking possibly the booster. I keep thinking I must be missing somthing. If you or anyone else have any ideas, I would appreciate the help. Thanks
.

Isoar, here's what my husband said:

I have never seen a booster cause a pedal to go to the floor
with no brakes. They will fail and cause no power boost, or
self apply and lock the brakes up.
 The master cylinder that was installed - was it used or new?
More importantly, was it bench bled before installing? The master cylinder in an Eagle sits with quite a  "nose up"
attitude in the car, if it was not propery bench bled before
installation there will be air in the master cylinder bore that
will not bleed out. Best of luck.
 

[ISOAR]

Sounds like air in the system somewhere.  Did you bench bleed the master cylinder?  And the rest of the system after you installed the MC?

    I did bleed the master cylinder, but I still believe this is the problem. I was unable to bleed the rest of the system as I was never able to achieve pedal pressure. I will remove the MC and bleed it again. Thanks.

[ISOAR]

Isoar, here's what my husband said:

I have never seen a booster cause a pedal to go to the floor
with no brakes. They will fail and cause no power boost, or
self apply and lock the brakes up.
 The master cylinder that was installed - was it used or new?
More importantly, was it bench bled before installing? The master cylinder in an Eagle sits with quite a  "nose up"
attitude in the car, if it was not propery bench bled before
installation there will be air in the master cylinder bore that
will not bleed out. Best of luck.

   Priya,  makes sense to me about the booster and yes the MC was a new one. I feel like I must not have gotten it bled completely or correctly. Tomorrow I will remove it again and see if I can do a better job. Thanks to you and your husband.

[carnuck]

The issue of a master allowing the system to drop can also mean the rear brakes fell apart or one of the 3 hoses has turned into a balloon.

[doneagle]

                        HI Priya was just wondering how you were doing  and how the car was coming along you said you were having trouble with the carb ,brakes and rear end .I under stand the brakes are fixed and I thought if the rear end wasn't fixed you weren't driving the car . So fill me in on what is going with the EAGLE  ...I passed on the rear end joke OK                   A fan don   

[priya]

Hi teneagle.  I'm doing well.  I haven't looked at the carb or rearend but I'm still driving the car.  I'm a little nervous about driving it with the rearend so noisy but I only take short trips in the city so I should be okay.  The car idles a little rough until the motor warms up and then runs nicely.  I'm thinking there is likely dirt in the carb but the rough idle when cold might have something to do with the car being in a heated garage and then when I take it out into the cold the carb gets confused between the somewhat warm motor and the suddenly drastically colder air outside.  Its not enough of an issue that I'm going to take the carb off at this time and pull it apart to see how much dirt is in it.  If the car sits for an hour or two outside in the cold when I'm on my trip there doesn't seem to be this issue with rough idle as it warms up.

[doneagle]

           HI  Priya It sounds like your on the right track with the carb .I have never had any luck with that kind of carb And .the rear end the trouble I have had with rear ends .I had a ax4 that I parted it had a good rear .the front rear was gone I was going to keep it but that's another story ... You have to find the right ratio on the ring and pinion .... good lock finding a rear end ..Is the sx4 rear the same as the wagon or not  don't know about that .........don   

[priya]

I've had good luck with Holley carbs so that's why I got this one.  I'm pretty sure the rearend is the same on all of the eagles.

[IowaEagle]

All of your Eagles, Priya?  Or all Eagles?   The 2.35's are kind of in a world of their own in some ways, while the rest of them have different ring/pinion gear combo's.  Check our parts manuals to see where the differences are at.   If I do come out Seattle way when the American Convertible goes up for sale I will have to stop by and see all of our Seattle folks.

[priya]

I didn't mean to suggest that all the rearends in Eagles are identical, I know there's a wide array of gear ratios available.  What I was saying was that to my knowledge the physical dimensions and attachment points are the same on the rear ends in all eagles but of course I defer to those with more knowledge.

[IowaEagle]

OK -- I bet Capt Spilane is the expert in that area.  Yes, AFAIK, attachment points and outside physical dimensions are the same within model lines (30 vs. 50).  All were AMC 15 (Dana 35) rear ends.

[doneagle]

HI     Priya and I E  the reason I ask about the 30 verses 50 is because I have a wagon rear .but if they are different and it wont fete so much for that ....some time you hit it lucky on the ring and pinion ratio . that's why I Sade good luck with that ....there are so many things that I would like to ask   but you don't know yet what is wrong with the rear end ..I hope you will let me know when you find out I hope its not real bad ......a fan don.....

[priya]

Don, we're planning on replacing it when we get the money together.  Hubby figures because of the water in the case the ring and pinion and bearings need to be replaced.  He talked about getting new pieces and putting them in and figured that'd be pretty pricey so he wants to buy a used rear when we can afford it.

[captspillane]

All AMC Eagle rear axles are identical and interchangeable. Even the right axleshaft from an SX4 can be swapped with the left axleshaft on a wagon.

Doug, you're thinking about FRONT axles being different castings for 2.35 gear ratio. The rear axles are all the same center casting and carriers as each other and also Jeep XJ Dana 35 axles.

As I understand it, the front axles are all the same and accept any gear ratio from 2.35 to 3.54 as long as they are not the infamous oddball casting. The oddball casting was used with 2.35 ratio only, and only from 1982 to maybe 1988. The change occurred around the time the disconnect was added, and initially the oddball casting was only disconnect axles for the year or two you could choose either. I don't know if they did away with the oddball casting in later years after the disconnect was removed again. If you have 2.73 or higher gears in your Eagle you can put any ratio, including 2.35, into both the front and back regardless of year. If you have a 1981 or older Eagle you can do it too even if you had 2.35 gears in the past.