Hey, I'm new to the forum, I just bought a 89 firebird 2.8 on a stiiick, it has 280,000 on the odo, no leaks under the hood, old residue where the tranny meets up with the engine, I don't know yet if it's engine oil, or tranny oil. The engine was a quart low when I drove it out here.

At highway speeds it has a noticable weave from side to side. In town it's not so bad, and barely does it at all. I'v read in other post's it could have somthing to do with the shock mount. My original assumption was that it could be bearings. The weave all comes from the back end.

It also has a terrible grinding to a stop way of braking, the previous owner sent it with a set of pad's, and I'm going to be picking up a set of shoe's and springs later today. I had to order the repair manual, and I have no experience with these car's, so I'm looking for any suggestions or experienced information that I can get, since I have to get them done asap.

It started as a mild grind, at the beginning of the week, and it's turned into a nearly squeeling pulling ground to a stop, so I plan to pull the wheels off this weekend, since I'm flying by the seat of my pants, any advice and tools needed will be helpfull.


thanks in advance!

 

front brakes are pretty simple. 2 allen bolts and the calipers come off. Check the rotors and pads, see ifthe hub is loose, replace as needed. I hate rear drums, but again, pretty straight forward. There are a lot of springs to remove to get the shoes off, but take a picture before hand so you know where everything goes.

Check the panhard bar in the rear if thats where the sway in coming from. It runs parralel to the axle, behind it. It locates the axle side to side and if its broken or the bushings are gone, the rear will be very unstable. Not the first time i have seen that happen. Could be other issues, but thats a place to start.

While its up, check all the front end steering parts for play, grease everything, do an oil change and enjoy.

 

Yes a picture is good and for added reference I also leave one side together to look at.

 

Calipers need to be compressed before going back on I'm assuming? I'v used a C clamp in the past on a 92 Cavalier, but I'v seen calipers that use a special tool to compress them.

 

The fronts will compress with a c clamp. Some rear disc calipers need to be rotated as they are compresses.

 

 

Ok I took pictures checked things out, everythings pretty tight except for a short bar which has a mild amount of play. Maybe a mm or 2. Bushings look okay not great but not too bad either. The panhard im guessing is the large straight bar, and the curved bar on the opposite side of the axel is the sway bar. Both are in decent shape, no damage no movement.

I changed the shoes on both sides, and have one drum back on but the other wont go over the breaks, All the hardware is in place. Iv got them adjusted as far as theyl go, about a quarter of the screw left to go, If i tighten it more it springs back, So... Any ideas?

Wondering where i can find the fuel filter too But iv got that first on my list today

 

Those are self adjusting so you what to be able to slide the drum on pretty easy and then the rest of the adjustment should be automatic.

 

I got em back on, I had to take the adjusting screw out, and hit it with WD40 got it turning nice, adjusted it fully in, and wedged it back into the assembly. It's riding nice now, the front's are still grinding so I'l have to do those next weekend, and I located the fuel filter. The nuts look good and rusty... I'm hoping I don't break anything. I'd like to hold off on it, but I know it's in desperate need of it. The fuel pump run's intermittently, and when it does it dosn't sound healthy. Not the quick satisfying 1 second whirr of a good pump.

The car does drive ALOT straighter, I'm thinking the pads and shoes were so bad that they were dragging against the roters and drums. It still pulls under braking, but I'm pretty sure that's from the front brakes being so low. All the suspension componenents looked pretty good on the back. I'l be checking the front next week, there's a slight amount of play in the steering wheel, not much, but it's worth looking into.

 

If the front is squealling and grinding I would be looking for a possibly bad rotor hub assembly. That could very well could cause some pulling to one side. What small rod had the play in it?

 

Pretty sure it connected the swaybar to the rear strut. * Im going to check the rotors this weekend * *Im sure theyr gonna be rough, *its my daily driver * So its hard to bust through it in a night. *Iv just been really light on the brakes and use my gears alot to slow down. * Fresh shoes in the drums are helping alot. **

I tried taking the fuel filter off but i only had one wrench and the bolts are rusted enough to need a couple of grips on the 2 nuts. * Im guessing the nut on the fuel line threads away from the filter? * I would have reefed on it, but i have to get to work tomarrow and didnt want to risk busting fuel lines. **