spiderw31 Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 (edited) Ok so after almost rear ending someone last night in a quick stop, I've had it with these crappy brakes. Something isn't right with them, but I dunno what exactly. One of my rear calipers was seized, and I had a nasty squeal and shake from the front, so I decided to replace all four rotors and calipers along with all new pads. I also had the ancient fluid flushed and bled afterward. The problem now is that I have excessive pedal travel before the brakes do anything, something like halfway to the floor! Once they bite in, they do OK, but since I've already wasted half the pedal travel to get any braking at all, I just don't get adequate stopping power. Ideas please? Oh yeah, and apparently I suck at typing. How do I fix the spelling of the thread title? Edited September 30, 2010 by spiderw31 Quote
White93z34 Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 Change the brake booster. its about $100 but defiantly worth it. Done it on my z34 and my old euro, both stop noticeably better Quote
spiderw31 Posted September 30, 2010 Author Report Posted September 30, 2010 Ugh... replacing the booster does not look like my idea of fun. One thing I forgot to mention is that before I touched the rear calipers, I didn't have nearly as much pedal travel before usable braking as now. Would adjusting the e-brake have any effect on the issue at all? My pedal stops after two pumps, and can barely hold the car on a slight incline. Quote
Night Fury Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 It might help the park brake holding on hills better but it wouldn't help the actual brake pedal feel Quote
spiderw31 Posted September 30, 2010 Author Report Posted September 30, 2010 It might help the park brake holding on hills better but it wouldn't help the actual brake pedal feel My though was that if the pads are too far off the rear rotors, would the extra pedal travel be a result of taking up that "slack" in the system? Really just thinking out loud. Quote
xtremerevolution Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 My though was that if the pads are too far off the rear rotors, would the extra pedal travel be a result of taking up that "slack" in the system? Really just thinking out loud. That's the purpose of the brake fluid reservior. Once your pads travel a bit farther, extra fluid enters the system and keeps the pads close to the rotors. Either you need to bleed your brakes again properly to get air bubbles out, your pads are complete crap, or your brake booster needs to be replaced. Quote
RobertISaar Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 (edited) mmm..... i THOUGHT i had the brakes completely bled in the GP.... and had roughly the same pedal travel you had... then i went and bled them up at the master cylinder, got a little bit back, then went and did it at the calipers for the 2nd or 3rd time and got all of it back. Edited September 30, 2010 by RobertISaar Quote
Night Fury Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 Keep in mind damn near every brake booster on first gens is failing at least at some rate. The brakes on my 91 are downright scary. Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 This is the first I've heard of first gen boosters being a common problem. I've never had to change a single one of them out yet. But maybe I will soon because I just jinxed myself. Quote
tornado_735 Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 When my gf and I met she had a '92 Lumi base with brakes that were hard as a rock and didn't stop for shit. Turned out to be the booster (learned this after we scrapped it) Quote
xtremerevolution Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 What years does this apply to? The 95 Regal still has excellent braking, 217k miles later. Quote
White93z34 Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 It applies to the 88-93 brakes. Quote
xtremerevolution Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 It applies to the 88-93 brakes. Can the 94-96 brake booster be used on 93 and older brake systems? Quote
slick Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 You need to bleed again. Use a power bleeder. Quote
spiderw31 Posted September 30, 2010 Author Report Posted September 30, 2010 It's been bled a total of three times now, the last time by the shop that flushed the fluid. Once they bled and flushed the system there was an improvement, but still not good. I'm suspecting at this point that there is air in the rear brakes though. I tried putting the e-brake on one pump at 25mph (barely any change in feel BTW) and then pressing the pedal. Very solid feel and much more responsive brakes. Also tried applying the e-brake to the point I could just feel the car being slowed ever so slightly for about a hundred yards or so before I parked the car, and felt the rear wheels. Left side VERY warm to the touch, and the right side MUCH cooler so the e-brakes are definitely out of adjustment too. Quote
RobertISaar Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 swap to 94-96 rears, problem solved. Quote
spiderw31 Posted September 30, 2010 Author Report Posted September 30, 2010 swap to 94-96 rears, problem solved. After reading your thread, I'm more inclined to fix what I've already got! Quote
Hairdo12 Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 (edited) What is all this nonsense talk.... the brakes fluid was flushed/bled. If there was no pedal travel before this, it is simple to spot that air was allowed into the lines. Bleed the brakes and your pedal will firm up. Vacuum pump each caliper. Since you have been using the brakes, that means you basically distributed the air throughout the lines. You basically need to get all the fluid out of the lines like a complete flush all over again; it'll take forever for all the air get out of the fluid. This is why you do not pump the shit out of the pedal when using the pedal to bleed. Edited September 30, 2010 by Hairdo12 Quote
RobertISaar Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 After reading your thread, I'm more inclined to fix what I've already got! most of my problems stemmed from the GP being the gigantic rustbucket it is and the junkyard fucking me over. otherwise, it would much simpler. Quote
spiderw31 Posted September 30, 2010 Author Report Posted September 30, 2010 What is all this nonsense talk.... the brakes fluid was flushed/bled. If there was no pedal travel before this, it is simple to spot that air was allowed into the lines. Bleed the brakes and your pedal will firm up. Progressively lost pedal travel with each caliper replacement did all four), so I was assuming air, as my bleeding wasn't the best. Knowing the fluid was original as well, that's why I had the shop power bleed and flush the system. It got better, but not back to the way it originally was (with one seized rear caliper). That's why I'm asking if it is air or if I should be looking elsewhere. Quote
RobertISaar Posted September 30, 2010 Report Posted September 30, 2010 Bleed the master cylinder? i honestly didn't expect it to work for me, since i drained the resivoir, then pumped fluid through the bleeders at the calipers until the fluid level was near the top, but i'll be damned, it worked. it's definitely something to look into. Quote
spiderw31 Posted October 1, 2010 Author Report Posted October 1, 2010 i honestly didn't expect it to work for me, since i drained the resivoir, then pumped fluid through the bleeders at the calipers until the fluid level was near the top, but i'll be damned, it worked. it's definitely something to look into. Wait... thats an odd way to do it. I've bled plenty of brakes, but never like that! Bleed the master cylinder? Is the process Robert referenced what you were referring to? Quote
AL Posted October 1, 2010 Report Posted October 1, 2010 I've never heard of it being done the way Roberts describing... Sounds interesting to say the least Quote
RobertISaar Posted October 1, 2010 Report Posted October 1, 2010 the idea is that it will push any air that's at the calipers out through the resivoir as i continue pumping fluid through it at the calipers. didn't work 100%, but it did cut down on the amount of time i spent bleeding and lost fluid compared to normal bleeding. Quote
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