Hard braking after car died?

[Mheiron]

So I was out driving my 69 Charger and the car died at ~55mph. The cars brakes became rock hard and getting it stopped took a huge force on the brakes. I had noticed previously the pedal was rock hard when the car wasn’t running.

The brakes work fine when the car is running. The master and booster are rusty and look poor on the outside. I intend to replace eventually but I have a lot of projects in front of that.

My question to the experts, is this normal or an indicator that something is seriously wrong with master or booster?

Next time I’ll remember to consider using the parking brake.

The car had broke the water pump fan belt and quit running due to an “electric” issue is my current best guess.

 

[66 Sat]

100% Normal.
Power brakes need the engine running to provide vacuum.
Nice car BTW.

 

[Don Frelier]

Go gently on the parking brake.
It's easy to lock up the rear tires and when you do the rear will want to drift on you.
Try it with the front brakes working so you can make a safe stop.
It's always good to know the limits of your car

 

[MoparLeo]

Park the car until you address the M/C and booster. Brakes are number one safety item.
Pull all 4 wheels and have a complete brake inspection done including brake fluid.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

With the engine off you loose vacuum... There is a one way check valve that should allow a couple brake applications with some power assist but by the third or forth stop the brakes are gonna suck... By your description it sounds like the check valve is bad....

 

[dan juhasz]

You should have had at least one power assisted peddle application with the stored vacuum in the booster. If you didn’t it indicates the booster leaks

 

[Lefty71]

100% Normal.
Power brakes need the engine running to provide vacuum.
Nice car BTW.

Indeed. Im sure many of you know (way off topic for this thread) but that is why so many Hybrid vehicles have such complex braking systems, and why the ABS is astronomical to repair.

 

[Derwud]

With the engine off you loose vacuum... There is a one way check valve that should allow a couple brake applications with some power assist but by the third or forth stop the brakes are gonna suck... By your description it sounds like the check valve is bad....

This.. Check this first, second how much vacuum you have at idle..

 

[Mheiron]

So the car died and coasted to a stop last weekend. The water pump belt broke around the same time but might have broke a few minutes before it stopped. I replaced the distributor today and it cranks fine and has 6V to the coil. The distributor rotor was rubbing the pickup. I’ll replace the coil tomorrow. I have fuel at the fuel filter and smell gas when I tried to start it so I think I have a spark issue.
I’m thinking the orange control box has gone out. Is that common or uncommon? Not much left to replace. It was running ok until it died.
The engine was rebuilt 500 miles ago and had a 4 speed automatic tranny installed.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated!

 

[1 Wild R/T]

So the car died and coasted to a stop last weekend. The water pump belt broke around the same time but might have broke a few minutes before it stopped. I replaced the distributor today and it cranks fine and has 6V to the coil. The distributor rotor was rubbing the pickup. I’ll replace the coil tomorrow. I have fuel at the fuel filter and smell gas when I tried to start it so I think I have a spark issue.
I’m thinking the orange control box has gone out. Is that common or uncommon? Not much left to replace. It was running ok until it died.
The engine was rebuilt 500 miles ago and had a 4 speed automatic tranny installed.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated!

6v at the coil doesn't point to a bad coil.. It points to the output of the coil is going to ground... Likely the orange box is bad.. And yes it's a common problem..

 

[Lefty71]

start it so I think I have a spark issue.

Well, with an extra spark plug (or pull one) and a helper, It should only take a few secs to see how strong the spark is.