[michael lang]

Every few years I take out the calipers, clean them and replace the piston seals & dust boots. This time went just as all the other times have gone, a little frustrating getting the pistons in but nothing that made me feel like I had to get someone else to do the job for me.

The reinstallation of the calipers again went without a hitch. Then the brake flush. I did have to recruit my daughter to depress the brake pedal because the hose on my Motive split while I was pumping it up to pressure. After two manning it I step in and the brake pedal drops the the floor. I redo the brake flush and retest, again the same condition. Brake pedal to the floor.

I do some research, go through my car and deduct the master cylinder has taken a dump. Almost 32 yrs it's understandable. I don't like it but it is what it is.

I have installed the master cylinder (hope to never have to do that again) and I flush the F*%K out of the brake system in my car. I first do a gravity bleed just letting the fluid flow, then I pull out my Mityvac & go through that process and finally use my Motive for a power flush. I must have gone through 4 bottles of brake fluid (thank God I work at a dealership otherwise I might as well buy stock in that shit). I sit in my car, say a quick "please God let this f*^$er be fixed" prayer and depress the brake pedal. There is a ton of pressure. So I figured I got. I get the wheels back on the car and put it back down on the ground. Back it out of the garage and as I'm rolling backwards I step on the brake pedal and it feels a little soft. I don't think too much of it until I come to the stop sign in front of my house and the pedal goes to the floor. I pump it and I'm noticing the pressure comes up a bit but still mostly soft. When I get back into my garage, I turn the engine off and when I depress the brake pedal again, it's got full pressure. It feels nice and tight and has very little movement, turn the engine on again and back to the original condition. It's very spongy. The only thing I didn't do in this process was flush the clutch slave cylinder.

Is it possible that the clutch slave cylinder also has air in its system which is causing the loss of brake pedal pressure when the engine is on? Please note that I did not experience and gear shifting issues or clutch engagement/disengagement while I was driving my car around my neighborhood on its test drive. What could I have missed that gives me brake pressure with the engine off but none as soon as the engine is on?

Have any of you gone through a similar condition and what did you do to correct it? Any suggestions on what I could try would be appreciated. Thanks