Addicted2bass Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 As some of you may know my PMIII took a shit on me a few weeks ago. Well i got the master cylinder out (this thing is freakin MASSIVE!!). I called Prior Reman today. They quoted me $843 to rebuild my unit!!!! Why is it so much?? I had heard it would be around $500 which i was prepared to pay, but $840 is alot of money. The way i see i can do one of three things. 1. Pay for the rebuild. This will be good for peace of mind, my brakes should be good for years to come. But its really gonna hurt the pocket book, im 20 years old and i dont make alot of money. This seems like major price gouging to me, theres no reason a rebuild should cost that much. 2. Find a used PMIII. Although this route would be cheaper im afraid that, even if i can find one, it will fail on me eventually and ill be back at square one. 3. Convert to a vacuum system. I havent been able to find much information on this process but from what i understand its WAY beyond my limited mechanical ability. If i could even find someone in my area willing to do it the labor costs would probably be astronomical. The good part is,this would eliminate all present and future PMIII troubles, which sounds amazing. 4. Sell the damn car. This is last ditch effort because i love this car so much. The thought has crossed my mind though, thats how fed up i am with the whole thing. Problem is the car is probably not worth much with a leaky master cylinder and its much to nice to part out. Right now im leaning toward buying the rebuild. Are there any other places besides Prior that rebuild these? Does anyone have a PMIII for sale (preferably an already rebuilt one)? Anyone near the Western New York area willing to help me with a vacuum brake conversion? I really just want to drive my car again guys!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krenzy Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 I have a great working PMIII I'll sell you....for $3500. Comes with an entire TGP, also! What luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 The rebuild is so expensive because Prior is the only company that rebuilds them. Here are a few vacuum brake conversion/info threads: http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php?topic=66815.0 http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php?topic=55381.0 Besides those, there are some more that I can't seem to locate at the moment. The vacuum brake conversion is pretty in-depth/takes a lot of work. The vacuum brake conversion parts are probably $200ish including new pads + rotors(assuming you're using junkyard calipers, brackets, etc.)...but you've got to figure out if all that labor is worth the trouble vs. paying to have the PMIII unit that is pretty simple to reinstall.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 I got lucky and found a good used pm3 one time for $150, but had the luxury of time and another car I could drive so it wasnt a big deal. when I had just one car, I had to go with a prior unit and it is not the greatest. when it first was installed it made funny queafing sounds for a while, and just the other day it dumped all its fluid (leaked out of somewhere, I have no idea why) and when I refilled it it was fine and hasnt leaked back out since. other than that, I would buy one again if I had to. hell, there is probably foreign made cars that it will cost you that for a caliper. not a bad price to pay for the ability to stop. depends on how you look at it, some say "brakes just slow you down" lol. I could never sell any of my three tgps. I am too attached. and glad you asked about the vacuum brake mod..... I thought about it but its out of the question because this one time I hit the brakes if it was not for the abs there probably would be one less tgp in the world, maybe one less me in the world. It was dark and raining and came around this corner and over the train tracks up river and there was I-105 right there and cars going 55. they may not be the best anti-lock brakes but they work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patgizz Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 if you can remove the pmIII unit with your abilities you have the ability to convert to vacuum brakes my car stops great, i hate ABS so it is perfect for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted To Boost Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 I hated the non abs vacuum brakes on my 89 GP SE. The TGP's PMIII stops much quicker and more effectively. I replaced my PMIII with a Prior unit right after I bought my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted2bass Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 I can get a used PMIII for $300, the guy has two of them. Problem is that both were from the j/y and he has no way of knowing if they leak or have other problems. Im thinking about taking the chance and going this route. If the Prior units were still $500 id do that, but $850 is alot of money for me. Thoughts?? Side note: With my leaking MC leaking as much fluid as it was (it was almost empty) shouldnt that have tripped a ABS or Brake light?? Before it went bad i had unplugged one of the 4 sensors on the side, this also did not cause any lights to come on. Can the ABS and brake lights be disabled on these cars?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Powered Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 I would not give him $300 unless he gave you both of them and you could send him one back if one of them is good. too big of a gamble. I spent $150 on one that was KNOWN to be good. tell him you could probably buy a car for that much. you could take the risk but usually they are broke already. I went through like 3 of them and was a lot of swapping in and out. was your slow blow fuse popping on you alot before you took it out? the pink one. when my fluid gets low it throws the "brake" light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Are the PMIII unit the same as whats in a 89-90 Trofeo??? If so, I can sell you one kinda cheap.. Should work fine and dandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted2bass Posted July 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 The main ABS fuse blew on me two of three times prior to the master cylinder leaking. It also blew the day it started leaking. Its a 60A IIRC in the small fuse panel under the hood by the washer fluid reservoir. I think the unit that is in there was half shot when i bought the car. It was recently put in there, it was from a j/y car. The brakes were never quite right from day one, but no lights were ever on. This makes me think the guy i bought the car from knew the MC was gonna go bad sooner or later and didnt want to deal with it when it did. I also suspect he may have disable the ABS and Brake lights on the dash. Even when the MC had almost no fluid in it neither light came on, same when the fuse blew. As far as the PMIII being the same in a Trefeo and a TGP, im not sure. I know they put them in some later 80s, early 90s cutlasses so its very possible. Can anyone shed some light on this?? Does anyone know how long it takes Prior to rebuild a unit?? Id like to have the car going by August 2nd for the Ontario/Western NY W-Body meet. Is the warranty on their rebuilds still 3 years?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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