# ford 8630 brake question



## robert young (Mar 31, 2018)

My 8630 has good brakes on the left side but none on the right. I can bleed the brake and get a pedal but no brake, no noise or anything from the actual brakes at all with the tractor rolling. Would it be in the master cylinder or in the brakes? There is oil at the bleeder but not a very strong stream of it.


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy Robert, welcome aboard the tractor forum.

If you can "bleed the brake and get a pedal but no brake", this would indicate to me that your right brake actuator/mechanism is frozen. First thing I would check is the master cylinder, as you shouldn't have to bleed the brake.

As a temporary measure, can you swap brake lines at the master cylinder and see if you can get the right brake to work using the left section of the MC??


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## robert young (Mar 31, 2018)

sixbales said:


> Howdy Robert, welcome aboard the tractor forum.
> 
> If you can "bleed the brake and get a pedal but no brake", this would indicate to me that your right brake actuator is frozen. First thing I would check is the master cylinder, as you shouldn't have to bleed the brake.
> 
> As a temporary measure, can you swap brake lines at the master cylinder and see if you can get the right brake to work using the left section of the MC??


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## robert young (Mar 31, 2018)

That is a good idea, I will try to switch the lines as soon as it warms up a little. Is there any way to free the actuator without removing the wheel?


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## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

Your tractor has no actuators. Only pistons with seals similar to a wet clutch pack. If the side in question needs to be bled in order to bring the pedal up, that indicates to me the fluid must be going somewhere. Have you been adding any fluid lately? 
Usually leaking piston seals will require frequent bleeding, yes, but if that's the only problem the brakes will work when bled and pedal travel is up. If the brake doesn't work, that sounds more like a mechanical issue within the brake itself. That will require removing the axle housing. I would think worn or damaged parts in that area would result in metal or brake material showing up sooner or later in the oil, filters, and possibly other hydraulic components. Any sign of that?


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## robert young (Mar 31, 2018)

Fedup said:


> Your tractor has no actuators. Only pistons with seals similar to a wet clutch pack. If the side in question needs to be bled in order to bring the pedal up, that indicates to me the fluid must be going somewhere. Have you been adding any fluid lately?
> Usually leaking piston seals will require frequent bleeding, yes, but if that's the only problem the brakes will work when bled and pedal travel is up. If the brake doesn't work, that sounds more like a mechanical issue within the brake itself. That will require removing the axle housing. I would think worn or damaged parts in that area would result in metal or brake material showing up sooner or later in the oil, filters, and possibly other hydraulic components. Any sign of that?


I havn't changed any filters yet, just bought this tractor. The brakes work off of trans fluid, I have worked on JD's brakes before so I figured Ford was close to the same setup, I just thought it strange that the breaks make no noise at all..You wouldn't think all the brake pistons would be bad or stuck. Thanks for the advice


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## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

There is only one piston per side, similar to Deere in that respect. I wasn't aware that trans fluid was used for brake supply. Most 10, 30 and 40 series tractors use a mineral based oil for brake fluid stored in a small reservoir usually near the cab firewall area somewhere. If this model does not, then fluid loss would be harder to detect. 
Swapping the brake lines at the master cylinder, as mentioned earlier, may help eliminate the cylinder as the problem, but I wouldn't expect your problem to be in that area. My bet is something's gone wrong in the brake itself.


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## robert young (Mar 31, 2018)

Fedup said:


> There is only one piston per side, similar to Deere in that respect. I wasn't aware that trans fluid was used for brake supply. Most 10, 30 and 40 series tractors use a mineral based oil for brake fluid stored in a small reservoir usually near the cab firewall area somewhere. If this model does not, then fluid loss would be harder to detect.
> Swapping the brake lines at the master cylinder, as mentioned earlier, may help eliminate the cylinder as the problem, but I wouldn't expect your problem to be in that area. My bet is something's gone wrong in the brake itself.


Maybe the difference is that this tractor is a powershift but the master cylinder does feed from a line from the trans pump. I'm afraid You are probably right and I'll have to pull the axle. It's been a few yrs since I put brakes in My 4450 Deere but I was thinking it had three pads that were each controlled by their own small cylinder but I could sure be wrong..Thanks for the help maybe I should have kept My 4055


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## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

Do as Fedup suggested, swap both lines from the master cylinder. I suspect the right side of the cylinder is in need of renewal. If the cylinder was fully functional the oil would have significant pressure at the bleeder.


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