Recently I installed Edelbrock TES headers on my 1989 Trans am 5.7.

The other day while testing my car I experienced catastrophic brake loss just as the car hit ~220 degrees on the dash. Brakes suddenly dropped to the floor with minimal to no stopping power at all in the drivers side front wheel and partial/no braking on the pass side front wheel (I knew this because pushing the pedal to the floor caused the car to pull to the right side. Luckily I was able to roll to a stop using the e-brake but none the less the experience was troubling. As soon as the car cooled off for 30 minutes, the brakes were back to normal.

After checking the entire brake system it was clear that there were no leaks and the fluid level seems to be about where it was. However I did notice that the driver side brake lines running up to the master cylinder comes VERY close to the headers (maybe less than 3/4" away). I suspect that the heat may have actually vaporized the brake fluid causing the sudden loss of braking.

Has anyone who installed headers in their car experienced this and what are some of the possible remedies/solutions to keep it from happening again. My car rarely gets up to 220 but it was a hot day and I hope to drive it throughout the summer heat so I need to be sure this doesn't happen again!

 

Troubling indeed. I would consider wrapping the headers, rerouting the brake lines or both. I checked my headers with an infra red gun at 500*+ while idling after a ride. Will be much hotter in hard driving. I could believe it would boil and cause issues. A quick google shows dot 3 boiling a little over 300.

 

Boiling brake fluid sure is fun

Move the lines to the other side of the steering shaft and that wont happen again. Be gentle on the bends, dont need any kinks. This is standard stuff for headers