No Power Brakes

[2danreed]

Took my '64 Cadillac out for a bit today and half way home lost power brakes. Still had brakes just took more pedal effort than you're accustomed to. Once home and not in noisy traffic I could clearly hear a "hiss" from under the dash every time I pressed the brake pedal. I crawled under the dash and quickly found that the "hiss" was coming from the rubber boot that the brake rod passes through. Another interesting thing that happens each time I pressed the pedal was a slight increase in engine RPMs, just as if I pulled a vacuum hose on and off. So, does this mean a bad booster? It is the only component not replaced when I did the brake system last year. 

[Jim Govoni CLC 20546]

Sounds like a booster fail to me.

[Cadman-iac]

Yes, the diaphragm is bad in the booster.  When you press on the pedal,  it's letting air from inside the car into your booster,  which decreases the assist you get from the vacuum. Plus it's like pulling a hose off of the carb, the engine sees an intake leak and increases speed.
Replacement is the only option you have in this case.

Rick

[2danreed]

Thanks guys, I assumed that may be the case, but in all my Cadillac driving years that's the first time I had a booster go bad, so I wasn't 100 percent sure.