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Left brake pedal travels to far


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Just beat the weather out of the mid-Atlantic back to Florida yesterday but on landing in Florida I noticed I had to press a lot further with my left foot over my right foot.  Was a little that way when taxing for takeoff also.  Left brake still grabs but my foot is way extended and over the top of the pedal.  Right one is normal.  When I shut down also I could here the left pedal make a mechanical sound.....like movement with no fluid.

No brake work for two years since both pads replaced at annual.  This annual was last October - no brake issues just routine annual inspection. Did not see any leaks on the ramp either.  

Thoughts?

 

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Either the brake cylinder or caliper. Have you checked the hydraulic reservoir level ? I would suspect since your hearing the sounds in pedal actuations that you brake cylinder need attention. Could be air in it if somehow the level became low but not likely since reservoir is plenty big for system. Check level first though.


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Just beat the weather out of the mid-Atlantic back to Florida yesterday but on landing in Florida I noticed I had to press a lot further with my left foot over my right foot.  Was a little that way when taxing for takeoff also.  Left brake still grabs but my foot is way extended and over the top of the pedal.  Right one is normal.  When I shut down also I could here the left pedal make a mechanical sound.....like movement with no fluid.
No brake work for two years since both pads replaced at annual.  This annual was last October - no brake issues just routine annual inspection. Did not see any leaks on the ramp either.  
Thoughts?
 


That’s how mine failed as well. In my case it was the right pedal. As was mentioned above, it is either a failed master cylinder or caliper. I would first check for any signs of leaks. At the brake caliper and the area right behind your left cowl. If you don’t see any leaks, the culprit is probably a leak inside of the master cylinder for the left brake. I suspect on your K they are under the access panel behind the left cowl.

You’re looking for something that looks like this. e329060c9b70096733a31c1ca8752310.jpg

You’ll need a mechanic to sign off the work but the rebuild isn’t too bad. The bleeding is another thing...


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Thanks guys and thanks @Marauderfor the pic.  That helps a lot.  I will check it out next weekend and keep you posted.  I had my oil changed up in Virginia while we were moving so the plane was moved in and out of hanger so it could have started leaking at any point before my preflight. However when I pumped my brakes for taxi they felt fine at that point. I’ll let you know.

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Start with a simple back bleed of the brake with a pressure pot.  Could be a little air in the line.

There are many threads in Mooneyspace about the right way to back bleed the brakes.  Requires a buddy.  

If the brakes don’t hold after back bleeding then start looking at master , lines, caliper.  

 

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And don’t forget before you begin any brake work on a Mooney to pray to whatever ultimate being you follow. That was my failing and it probably didn’t help that I used more 4 letter words during the process than a sailor stuck on KP duty.


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Start with the simple stuff.  Check fluid level.   Also if leaking from one of the master cylinders, it does not end up on the ground.   Usually flows to the middle of the plane and then out a panel.   Thick gummy stuff in the middle of the plane is the clue.

Master cylinder rebuild it 3 or 4 Standard AN O rings out of the grumpy IAs collection.   Parker Cleavland manual is your friend to find the numbers

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@Yetti and @Marauder thanks. I took a short trip out to the hangar yesterday to drop off my move items from my Virginia hangar and did a quick check.  No fluid around the calipers and reservoir level was up around the full line.  I did notice notice the connection fitting below the reservoir connecting the tube looked a little wet but no sign of a drip.  I didn’t have time to pull the exhaust cavity panel but hope to get to it tomorrow to be able to see if I have fluid in and around.  Yetti - I did not see anything unusual as far as fluid on the belly but again, just kind of a quick look yesterday.  MTF.......

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[mention=11450]Yetti[/mention] and [mention=9886]Marauder[/mention] thanks. I took a short trip out to the hangar yesterday to drop off my move items from my Virginia hangar and did a quick check.  No fluid around the calipers and reservoir level was up around the full line.  I did notice notice the connection fitting below the reservoir connecting the tube looked a little wet but no sign of a drip.  I didn’t have time to pull the exhaust cavity panel but hope to get to it tomorrow to be able to see if I have fluid in and around.  Yetti - I did not see anything unusual as far as fluid on the belly but again, just kind of a quick look yesterday.  MTF.......


If there is no obvious fluid loss, the culprit is most likely the seals in the master cylinder. The Stat-O-Seal in the Cleveland version is supposed to be the most important one but when I replaced mine, there was one O ring that was showing a lot of wear and lost its shape.

Both of these came out of my master cylinders. The one on the right came out of the right master that I was having issues with. The left one was in much better condition.

bc2432ba628cfc1e8e3e3af041c09b0c.jpg

If you have Cleveland masters, the internals will look like this.

9f0ac25b6513c3442cf1fe930dd27225.jpg


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