Yugo start up

Andy

Andy

True Classic
After 7+ years of just sitting I got my Yugo started today.
Wasn't very hard, threw in a battery, hooked up a hose from a gas can to the fuel pump, let it prime, gave it a little shot of ether... and she fired right up.

I had forgotten that one of the reasons it was parked was the massive exhaust leak...
Anyway I didn't think to use video until after it was running so here is an after thought video...


The main reason it got parked is that I installed a new brake master cylinder but could never get any pressure on the pedal. I bled and bled the brakes, at least a quart of brake fluid through the system. Today I installed another brand new M/C. I pressure bled the front brakes, but not the rears. My only need at this point is to be able to load the car on and off my trailer to move it across town to my new place. Still no pressure on the pedal. I'm pretty confused by this. I expected the brakes to not be optimal by not bleeding the rears, but I expected something at the pedal. It just goes to the floor. Pumping the pedal does not build any pressure. I had assumed a bad M/C from the vendor, it happens, but two in a row? Almost 10 years apart? Doesn't makes sense.
Anyone have an idea? Memory is hazy on why I changed the M/C in the first place, but I would imagine I was getting a soft pedal. The car only has 88K on it, and was a blast to drive up to a few years ago. The above mentioned exhaust leak is at the manifold down pipe connection, and now I recall that I broke a stud trying to get it apart years ago. Once I get the car moved I will revisit that. After the brakes work of course.
 
The bleeding process can be difficult on some cars. Having a second person to assist you is critical to success. There are several different methods, pressure bleeding, vacuum bleeding and just having gravity assist you.

If there is no pressure in the rear circuit you will effectively have no pedal.
 
I'll have to double-check my shop manual but 128s have the "fail-safe" valve that (if memory serves) links front to rear opposite circuits in event of a line leak/rupture. The valve can sieze over time and stick in the open position. I wonder if the Yugo is set up similarly and it might be sharing air from the opposite corner rear circuit? Just suck it up and bleed the other end :)

I've successfully used a come-along to load/unload a 128 on a trailer. Who needs brakes? Does the park brake work?
 
Thanks Court,

I am not aware of such a circuit on the Yugo, but it makes sense. A lot of 128 stuff was used on the cars.
I have at this point bleed three wheels. The forth will have to wait until this weekend as the car has been in the garage for so long that it's semi buried under stuff (mostly carboard). That's Friday's job is to clean out around the car. I am not too hopeful but we'll see what happens when I bleed that last wheel.

I have loaded the car on my trailer (last time I moved it) without brakes, I just leave it in first gear and shut the engine off when I need to stop.
The ebrake does not work, the cable is rusted solid. Go figure...

Karl,
I've pretty much got the bleading process dialed in, I use a pressure bleed system that consists of a bicycle pump, a long vinyl tube (long enough to reach all the way around the car) and a reservoir cap filled with a tire valve. This way I can be at the wheel I am bleeding and pressurize the system. Works pretty well, especially on X clutches.
 
I was wrong about the brake circuit: the shop manual shows one front & the main rear brake line going in & out of the valve in parallel (no cross-over), so I guess if either circuit fails it will light the brake warning lamp on the dash.

Interesting bleeding setup. I dig it.
 
Someday I may have the opportunity to crawl around under the car. I did learn that if the rear suspension is hanging nothing will come out of the bleeder. I could not see any kind of valve, it was likely the hose getting pinched at full travel. Putting a floor jack under the spindle and elevating it a few inches provided ample flow.
He hose does make a severe turn from the hard line to the piston, might have to look at that more closely.
 
I am quite certain my Yugos had a compensation valve forward of the spring about in the middle of the car and a rod connects to something that would lift as weight transfers fwd on hard braking. If that is open then it would not allow anything to press the rear circuit.
I had a hard line part and lost the rear circuit some pedal remains but not much!
My first Yugo actually used the cabin as part of the exhaust! Felt that way anyway... I took the downpipe apart to find no gasket just metal to metal. That was the source of the stinky exhaust cabin all along.
Pressure bleed is probably a fine system to use but where are if all the air is evacuated and the MC does not move fluid? I always pump the pedal(have it pumped) use a finger over the bleeder as a check valve and just go around until they all work or I am happy with the back pressure on the pedal.
37 years and counting have never been handed or installed a "bad MC" the pedal will get harder with each corner you get bled.
Good Luck!
Regards
Plausible deniability statement:
This valve may have been under a Lancia Zagato I had but I think the Yugo has one...
 
Andy, if that was the case the good news is your rear brake compensator works :) 128s have the rear brake compensator also. The valve is in the same place, forward of the rear leaf spring. The little actuator bar/arm routes over the left control arm and has a little drop link that picks up off a pivot on the control arm, near the spring pad.
 
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