carnewbie Posted July 29, 2013 Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 Hi everybody, thank you ahead of time for reading this and any help you may be able to give me. I am encountering two problems with my brakes. One is this hissing sound whenever I step on the brakes. As I understand this is a problem with the power booster. How can I tell if this is a problem I have to replace the whole thing, vs a hose? Or a friend was talking about a one way vale that might be a $5 fix. My mechanic wants $600 to replace the whole thing, $300 in parts, $300 in labor. My second problem is with my rear brake lights not working. The middle one (in the rear window) works, but not the other two (on the right and left sides of the trunk, facing backwards) dont. I was told they SOMETIMES works, probably connected to if I signal my turn before braking. I just recently replaced the turn signal, and it was working, as far as I knew (it wasn't before that, as well as my turn signal stick straight up broke) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95 vert Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 Sounds like the brake booster needs replaced. I have the same brake light problem in my 96 CS. My CS needs the turn signal switch replaced. Common problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnewbie Posted July 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 Thats what I think as well. I heard something about a one-way valve at the apex of the "pyramid" that may have gone bad. Is there a cheap way to replace it I can do myself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) Thats what I think as well. I heard something about a one-way valve at the apex of the "pyramid" that may have gone bad. Is there a cheap way to replace it I can do myself? I don't know about the "apex of the "pyramid", but the one-way valve in the booster won't create noise you can hear from the passenger compartment. On the other hand, a defective hose will make the engine run terrible, and be noisy pretty much ALL the time. Noisy booster = defective. My mechanic wants $600 to replace the whole thing, $300 in parts, $300 in labor. That better include a complete brake fluid flush, and a lifetime warranty on the booster. If it does...you could do worse. I initially thought the price was excessively high, but I forgot about the fluid and labor for the brake flush. Edited July 30, 2013 by Schurkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnewbie Posted July 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 I don't know about the "apex of the "pyramid", but the one-way valve in the booster won't create noise you can hear from the passenger compartment. On the other hand, a defective hose will make the engine run terrible, and be noisy pretty much ALL the time. Noisy booster = defective. That better include a complete brake fluid flush, and a lifetime warranty on the booster. If it does...you could do worse. I initially thought the price was excessively high, but I forgot about the fluid and labor for the brake flush. Do you think I could get one from a junk yard with relative reliability? Or is this likely to happen again/already be affecting the "new" one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 Do you think I could get one from a junk yard with relative reliability? Or is this likely to happen again/already be affecting the "new" one? Booster failure is irrationally common on earlier W-bodies. I don't have a lot of faith that it's better on the later ones. I got mine from CarQuest, rebuilt with lifetime warranty, about $150 each, but that was a few years ago. The symptoms I had were entirely different from yours, but the booster was still at fault in both of my Luminas. http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/32510-Hard-brake-pedal-no-stopping-power?highlight=poor+stopping+power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Had same prob wit my 97 monte on da tails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron350 Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Carnewbie if your symptoms are the same as Schurkey you probably need a new booster. If your brakes work OK and just hear the vacuum noise you just lost the silencer. Most vacuum boosters suck air in under the dash when the brake pedal is pushed. They add open cell foam rubber silencers in the neck of the booster under the dash to keep dust out and noise down. When the foam gets old it usually gets sucked into the booster sometimes messing them up sometimes not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cutlass350 Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Do you think I could get one from a junk yard with relative reliability? Or is this likely to happen again/already be affecting the "new" one? The booster went on my 2000 Olds last year. Imho, get a new one. Getting a used one is like playing Russian Roulette by yourself - you know you'll loose, but not exactly when. Yea, it takes time (and hence, money if you're paying for the repair) to replace the booster since you have to disconnect the brake lines from the master cylinder, yank the MC, then yank the booster. Replace all, then bleed the brakes. It takes time to do all of that stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnewbie Posted August 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 Carnewbie if your symptoms are the same as Schurkey you probably need a new booster. If your brakes work OK and just hear the vacuum noise you just lost the silencer. Most vacuum boosters suck air in under the dash when the brake pedal is pushed. They add open cell foam rubber silencers in the neck of the booster under the dash to keep dust out and noise down. When the foam gets old it usually gets sucked into the booster sometimes messing them up sometimes not. That sounds like possibly the problem. Thank you! Since holding the brake down stalls my car, eventually, I am guessing it messed up the booster. Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1979lee Posted August 13, 2013 Report Share Posted August 13, 2013 id say booster. my old 98 lumina did the hissing thing. it was a pain in the @$$ to change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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