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Topic: Brake issue and shop help!!

in Forum: C3 Handling Components


Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 4/17/13 5:59pm Message 1 of 10
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Summerville, SC - USA
Joined: 8/31/2005
Posts: 660
Vette(s): My 1974 Vette sold last August 2014. I am still willing to show up to events and local gatherings if anything happening No new vette yet.
My vette pedal goes almost to the floor. I feel the pedal have like a half of an inch of pressure. The reservoir under hood is still full and no puddles under the car. One mechanic I spoke to said the seals in my calipers are cracked and leaking on the wheels that's why there are no signs under the car. The car has brand new brakes on car. New everything It was all put on five years ago or more but the car is driven only five times a year at most. Does this sound right? Would it be a cheap fix? I am in hackettstown , New Jersey. Anyone know of a shop I can bring my car to? Should I go to STS?


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Re: Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 4/17/13 6:35pm Message 2 of 10
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York, PA - USA
Joined: 5/18/2010
Posts: 1518
Vette(s): 1969 daytona conv. all original 350 350 380 4 sp w/air..and hard top
Have you looked at the calipers yourself to see if they are leaking or is that a guess that they are leaking? You can have little loss of fluid and still have a leak. I would suggest a pressure bleed done. This is something I do every year. I push 4 quarts of brake fluid thru the system to keep it clean of debris and air bubbles that can get in the calipers that sit a good bit. Look for a BG shop that has a bleeder system and bring them fluid. They have an attachment that goes on top of the master and pushes the fluid out thru the calipers. It works great and doesn't take long at all. Any shop with this system can do it. Or you can come to York pa and I'll do it for you no problem. These calipers will leak if they don't get used. This is where I would start and see if the pressure comes up. I wouldn't put any parts on the car even if a caliper is leaking.



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Re: Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 4/18/13 6:28am Message 3 of 10
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Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20218
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
I would also suggest a pressure bleeding, tho regular bleeding could work, too. Air can enter the system even if the car is sitting, but most likely it is getting some air in it while driving.




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Re: Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 4/18/13 3:43pm Message 4 of 10
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Zachary, LA - USA
Joined: 1/27/2013
Posts: 201
Vette(s): 1974 L-48 Auto. Just your basic Vette. GM crate motor w/vortec heads and intake. Crane cam. Scorpion rockers, Edelbrock carb. Lots of parts still in boxes... :(
What year is the car?  Is the "brake" light lit on your tach all the time, vice just when the eBrake is pulled?




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Re: Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 4/18/13 7:26pm Message 5 of 10
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Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20218
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
It's a '74. Wink


Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    

My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)
             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Re: Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 4/19/13 4:10am Message 6 of 10
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Frederick, MD - USA
Joined: 9/8/2003
Posts: 3398
Vette(s): 1969 convertible L71 427/435 4-speed black interior
I once had similar symptoms on the '78 I used to own.  In my case it was that there was a bad caliper seal, but it wasn't leaking fluid but sucking in air.  The result was loss of pedal such as you're experiencing.

Rebuilding the calipers solved the problem.

C2 and C3 have a history of issues with their calipers, especially with cars not often driven.  The Delco brakes are of excellent design...especially for their era.  The issue arises from they're made of cast iron and will corrode over time if fluid isn't regularly distributed through use.  It's difficult to fault the designers as these systems weren't really expected to last 30-50 years.  



Re: Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 5/20/13 9:14am Message 7 of 10
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Summerville, SC - USA
Joined: 8/31/2005
Posts: 660
Vette(s): My 1974 Vette sold last August 2014. I am still willing to show up to events and local gatherings if anything happening No new vette yet.
Soooo.....It was all 4 calipers had bad seals. I replaced the calipers with new ones.  The shop wouldnt rebuild them, it was STS. they claimed they stopped rebuilding the calipers 25 years ago.  So I replaced them.  They were the original 1974 calipers on the car so I fgured it was time for new ones since everything else on my brake system had been replaced completely anyways.


Re: Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 5/20/13 9:51am Message 8 of 10
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Frederick, MD - USA
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Vette(s): 1969 convertible L71 427/435 4-speed black interior
You'll be hard pressed to find a shop that will rebuild calipers anymore.  It used to be a routine service and it's not usually difficult.  What's changed is legal liability and the time element.

Shops don't want the liability for the potential of a poor caliper rebuild, so they would rather install one from an assembly line supplier and let them bear the legal liability for the quality of their work.  

It's also faster and more profitable to simply remove and replace calipers than taking the time to rebuild them.  Caliper repair kits cost a couple of dollars and not much time to rebuild them.  A replacement caliper costs much more with more built-in profit plus flat-rate time to r & r one.  Add to that the liability factor and it's easy to see why that's the rule today.

It takes a mechanic to rebuild parts in a shop...mechanics are in short supply now.  Shops now use techs...parts changers.  I well remember the days when I could take a car to a mechanic...he could look at a part and tell you what's wrong and would rather fix it than replace it.  That's becoming a lost thing today.





Re: Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 5/20/13 11:55am Message 9 of 10
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Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20218
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
Tell me about it.....Angry
Glad you got it taken care of, anyway, Jeremy....did you get to keep the original calipers, or did they use them as cores?


Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    

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(click for Texas-sized view!)
             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Re: Brake issue and shop help!!

Posted: 5/20/13 1:12pm Message 10 of 10
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Summerville, SC - USA
Joined: 8/31/2005
Posts: 660
Vette(s): My 1974 Vette sold last August 2014. I am still willing to show up to events and local gatherings if anything happening No new vette yet.
I left them there. They wanted 50 each for core fee. I said enjoy them and left with my car.


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