Teaves System

[DAVES89]

Good for you for staying at it. The mechanic friend told you the right way to bleed brakes on all cars including Reattas.

[Ronnie]

Did bleeding the brakes get you more pedal pumps before the brake pump starts?

[2seater]

This is interesting. I still bleed my brakes from the rear first and then the fronts. Old habits maybe, but it makes me feel better. The nice thing about the rear self-bleeding with the pump is it is easy to flush a fair amount of fluid through with little effort so it takes less on the front to get clear, clean fluid. As I mentioned earlier, replacing the cracked front brake hoses and a fresh fluid flush only gave a small increase in the reserve, but they now feel very firm.

 

I found it interesting after looking through the five stock style accumulators I have that none of them show a country of origin? The newest one I have, which does have a "like new" gas charge, is the only one with a sticker that says "made in Germany". All of them have the Ate (Alfred Teves) logo embossed in and identical numbers following it. Some have said this is a patent number and it does not have the same sequence as a contemporary part number from Ate, so I have no idea. The biggest benefits I see with using the larger Hydac is the price is right and the performance is as good, or slightly better, than a new standard type, if you can find one. This is the unit that the Ford T'Bird super coupes have been using as a replacement for years.

[Ronnie]

...The biggest benefits I see with using the larger Hydac is the price is right and the performance is as good, or slightly better, than a new standard type, if you can find one. This is the unit that the Ford T'Bird super coupes have been using as a replacement for years.

 That is the reason I have n o problem recommending the Hydac Spinning Wheels sells. It has been well tested on the Teves MK-2 system.

 

For those reading this that don't know, the T-Bird Super Coupe has a Teves brake system almost identical to the one used on the Reatta. I think there might be a difference in the connector for the pressure switch and maybe the reservoir is different. They don't have a clearance problem over the top of the accumulator like the Reatta does.

[2seater]

Some time back there was a thread about using the Thunderbird pressure switch in place of ours. It did involve making an adapter harness but I don't know what the final resolution was. Nor do I know if it uses similar switching to activate the indicator lights.

[DAVES89]

I was the one charged with getting a Ford pressure switch and harness [however the one I got was off a Lincoln]. The pin placement is different then ours. I sent it to Machiner55 and he was going to do some testing. But he has left the forum and this project was never completed.

I think the biggest issues today with the Teves brake system is the accumulator and front sensor leads. With Spinning Wheels in the picture the accumulator issue has quieted down, however the front sensor leads will be an issue as they are no longer made and I am no longer rebuilding them.

Pressure switches last for a long time [as yet I have not had to replace one] and I am sitting on 7 used and 2 new ones.

Pump/motors could also be an issue but at present I have 3/4 of them and 1 complete Teves unit. I could in less then a weeks time get another dozen pump/motors. They are still quite common.

[2seater]

Ahh, yes, now I remember. I don't know if the T'Bird switches are more available or not, so I suppose it doesn't matter and I have yet to see a bad one, just as you say. I think there was an investigation of reworking the pump motors too, which probably means new brushes, but nothing more on that recently either.

[retired mechanic74]

I bought an accumulator ball from Spinning Wheels a while ago. It was easy to install it. Everything seemed fine, no more abs or brake light. What I've noticed though is the pump comes on often, like after having to apply the brakes to come to a stop a couple times and I only get 2 full pumps of the brakes and on the third the pump comes back on. Do I have a leak or maybe the pressure switch is bad (No moisture noticed when electrical connector is removed)

Anybody else using the spinning wheels ball? Any ideas?

 

                                    Thanks,

 

                                            Steve

 

..... This is just food for thought but should be checked. I have been exposed to the Teves system through out my years of being a GM mechanic (over 18 yrs) and have come across problems of this kind. I have found that many times it is caused by air trapped in the system after it has been opened and can be difficult to remove. The air weakens the pressure and can cause pre-mature activation of the pump.