gy6 150cc poor functioning disc brakes and non-functioning "e-brake"

[BuggyLegend]

Ok so 2 things today guys. My usual pedal brakes appear to not be working to full potential. I mean when the buggy is off and someone puts their foot on the brake it holds still, but whenever I'm driving is doesn't stop very quick, I feel like it mainly just slows due to the lack of throttle. If I were driving full speed down a dirt road, and let of the gas completely I would stop in a relatively short distance, If i push the brakes at the same time I let of gas it seems like I stop just shy of the same distance. Maybe its just me and I think they should stop me quicker but idk. On the other hand, my hand/parking brake doesn't work, AT ALL. I can see where the cable is connected to rear disc brakes and when I pull the lever the cable moves and the spring compresses but I can push the buggy around with 0 resistance, what you guys think? Pictures would be much appreciated, and I can post some to if requested, thanks guys!

[x-bird]

what kind of master/bnake setup--post pics of it if you can sounds like the same symptoms I just dealt with on my wife's. Piston in the master cylinder was stuck most of the way in, front brakes dragging badly, rear caliper piston stuck most of the way out. e-brake wouldn't function because the cam setup that pushes the piston couldn't move the piston any further since it was near full extension. pushing the pedal while running really wasn't applying the brakes much more than they already were and the engine had to move all that drag--really bogged it down.

[BuggyLegend]

Here are some pictures of my brake system. Hope this helps and thanks for the reply!

[x-bird]

undo the clevis pin holding the rods that go in the master, take the lid off the reservoir and try pushing in on each piston with a rod by hand. if they don't move at all, they're locked in place. they should move with some resistance and return smoothly. on the rear e-brake setup, the bolt sticking out sets how far the caliper's pad is pushed out of the bore at the start of the stroke. loosen the nut, back the bolt out a few turns , apply the brakes and see if any space appears between the pads and rotor. piston may be stuck in the bore. very common. turning the bolt in will push the piston more to the caliper, allows for the e-brake to be adjusted for pad wear if it loses it's clamping ability. Neither of these "inspections" will require you to undo the brake lines, so no worry yet about getting air in the lines.

[BuggyLegend]

Thanks for the info!! I'm not familiar with some of the terms so ill have to do some research before I get in to it. But once I do I will post the results. At the beginning you said if they don't move they're locked in place. If that's is the case what do I do about it?

[x-bird]

if the piston in the master is stuck in the bore, only thing you can do is remove the master, disassemble it and inspect/clean it. seals can be bought to rebuild it with if needed.

[BuggyLegend]

OK so here's what I did. I thought I would start with the e-brake first so that I wouldn't have to really disassemble much, just loosen and tighten that one bolt/screw. (prepare to be humored by my ignorance.) initially I didn't realize that the brake pedal also clamped the rear disc (moron) I thought that disc only applied to the e-brake. After fiddling with the screw for a while I realized that the pedal had to influence it since there was a brake line leading to it. So at this point what we were doing was loosening and tightening the screw to find out how far IN the screw needed to go to make the e-brake work while not being so tight that there was drag. We decided the best way to do this was to jack up the rear so that the tires could spin most freely and see if we could feel a resistance. So we got that to a point I felt comfortable that the e-brake would still the buggy when activated but not cause any drag when deactivated. So from here I moved to the front brake system. Similar approach, we jacked up the front and gave each tire a spin (since they're not on the same axle like the rear) they spun around freely. So then we pushed in the brake, and gave each a spin, nothing happened, they continued to spin ENTIRELY unrestrained. So I followed your instruction, taking the pin out and removing the two rods. (Idk if its normal but one rod was poking out further than the other?) So I got a long bolt and pushed in on each piston. The left piston pushed in with little resistance and returned smoothly. (this is the side that the longer rod was in originally I believe.) However, I then tried to push in the right side cylinder and it wouldn't budge, maybe a centimer MAYBE, but it wasn't really going in or coming out. But it did appear to be all the way at "out" as in not pushed in very much into the master. I believe you were originally saying you thought it may be stuck in? I kinda feel like it may be stuck out? or maybe I just misunderstood. So recap: rear disc brake is working appropriately, e-brake is now functioning well, but front disc brakes are not working at all (not stopping front tires from moving) Left cylinder pushes in and returns out normally, i think, and right cylinders won't budge. Also as a last note, while I know next to NOTHING about it, I hear you can have air in your lines, which is bad of course. Well I took the reservoir lid off and looked in while I pushed in the cylinders individually and on the left, the one that actually moves, when I pushed it in and let it back out a couple of time a bubble came up through the hole. bad feelings all around. Thanks for all the help though, I really appreciate it and hope to hear something soon!

[x-bird]

posted in your other thread, but you've got nothing to feel ignorant about. these e-brake setups are kind of hokey for the caliper size. when new, they're probably fine, after a couple years and some pad wear, they're crap. Just not enough pad travel range for the tolerance needed. The difference in master rod length is so you can set the brake bias, you should have more brake action up front than the rear. Typically a personal preference thing as to just how much.