Braking Issues

GMAN

Dedicated LVC Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2005
Messages
4,743
Reaction score
31
Location
Spring, Texas, United States
I was driving along today, and noticed the brakes are hard to stop the car. The pedal is firm, and braking seems fine under driving around 35-45 mph. When I had to a hard stop at 55mph, I had my foot pressed hard on the pedal, and the car didn't suddenly stop, jerk forward, or the ABS engage. So I tried it again at 60mph on a isolated road by my house, and slammed on the brakes with both feet on the pedal, and it gradually stops. Something's wrong. I've got new brakes, turned rotors, no visible leaks, and recently had it power bled. Any ideas?
 
Greg, you said you turned the rotors. Did you sand a cross hatch into the rotor after turning? If they don't have a proper cross hatch, the pads don't have a good way to grip the rotor. Makes stopping distance terrible.
 
This thread is only 2 weeks after you told me the Brake Booster is bad and that you were bringing it to me, what gives?

Remember I told you that you'd have to nearly stand up on the pedal to stop the car
 
Make sure that your major vacuum line is still attached to the booster.
 
This thread is only 2 weeks after you told me the Brake Booster is bad and that you were bringing it to me, what gives?

Remember I told you that you'd have to nearly stand up on the pedal to stop the car

After I talked to you, I ended up getting the system bled professionally because of the amount of air that was in the line. A bit far to go for a brake bleed. I had air in the abs lines when I had those lines removed to put in a new front clip. I didn't want to guess on a bad brake booster until the air was completely out. So I guess it's a booster now.

Greg, you said you turned the rotors. Did you sand a cross hatch into the rotor after turning? If they don't have a proper cross hatch, the pads don't have a good way to grip the rotor. Makes stopping distance terrible.
Roger, I don't rightly know on the rotors it's been so long ago now.
 
Ya, if your pedal is hard then the booster is bad. I thought you meant the car just didn't stop well. Booster or vacuum leak. But if you had a bad enough vacuum leak to cause a hard pedal, most likely the engine would run rough or die at idle. A lot of times when the booster is bad, you can hear the vacuum leak in the car when pushing the brake pedal.
 
Ya, if your pedal is hard then the booster is bad. I thought you meant the car just didn't stop well. Booster or vacuum leak. But if you had a bad enough vacuum leak to cause a hard pedal, most likely the engine would run rough or die at idle. A lot of times when the booster is bad, you can hear the vacuum leak in the car when pushing the brake pedal.

And when the Diaphragm in the booster completely fails, it'll stall the engine if you're holding the brake at a full stop

Gregg, you could've just gravity bled all the air out if you just remove the Masters cap and then open the bleeders, but having it pressure bled is the Better way
 

Members online

Back
Top