I have an 86 Camaro, with 4 wheel disk brakes. Ever since I got the car the brake pedal has been very mushy. I have replaced all the rubber hoses, the master cylinder, rebuilt both rear calipers and replaced both of the front calipers and replaced two hard lines (the one going from the front to rear, and the one going to the right rear brake). I bench bled the master cylinder, installed it in the car. I then bled the whole system from back to front. I used the friend pumping the pedal method to bleed the brakes. After this the pedal was still very mushy. Over the next week I proceeded to bleed the brakes a total of 4 times running lots of fresh fluid through the system. All the pads are very close to the rotors. Could there still be air in the system?? Should I just get a shop to bleed/diagnose them??

Thanks
Justin

 

id say there may still be air in the system. You could always pressure bleed the system. My friend was thinking of doing this. SOmeone he knew took a bicylce pump, straps, and a spare reservouir cap w/ a schroder valve and attached it to the brake reservoir. He slightly pressureized the system and went around and opened the beeders and bled it that way. Never tried it but it sounds neat.

When you bled it, did you open the bleeder after he pressurized the system and close it before the peddle hit the floor? Air can get back into the system by leaking around the bleeder after the peddle is down to the floor/reliesed.

 

That's my thoughts too.

Have you ever driven another 3rd gen? All of the brakes kind of feel that way. You get a lot of travel in the pedal and have to really haul on them to get them to work. At least that's what my 3 did.

 

i have asked about this too on this board,but never got a good answer. after going though bleeding the brakes three different ways on my 88 and 84 and driving my friends 88 trans am the other day i say that it's a defect! .....i made up plugs and blocked off the master cyl back then front and found when i blocked the front i had a solid pedal it seems to me it's something to do with the fronts .....it would be cool if some of you could do this test and post back ....go to your pick a part yards if you can and cut the lines off the master cyl cremp/or weld the lines near the nut undo your lines one at a time plug master cyl test,, your front line is your back brake///and the front is your back......this is a good way to narrow it down

 

i checked mine with the engine off. W/o the power assist, the pedal is rock solid. Before i blead it, it was mushy w/ the engine off. The only way the front calipers would be at fault for this is if fluid was leaking past them or they arnet adjusting properly. If you dont see fluid on the outside of the calipers and the pads look like they are against the rotor, theyre probably good to go. The only other place that would cause the pedal to feel as though it has alot of travel is in the master cyl. A worn seal or cyl wall will cause a large anulus of oil to leak past and loss of pressure will result.

Most gm brakes have a serious lack of feel to them. Not like the newr cars w./ lots of feedback. Mine work well and dont require loads of effort but they lack feel of the newer systems.

 

nother thing to keep in mind about the fronts is that the larger piston or pistons if you have the 1le's, takes more fluid to push the same distance as the calipers in the rear, or the wheel cyl in the drums for that matter. So the pedal feel would change if you block them off.

 

i hear what your saying, but it's not the case in this matter if you were to step on the brake with engine running for the booster (by the way you get aleast one boosted peddle with engine off)i feel the peddle should be firm the calipers are fine no leaks...i have replace two master cyl on the 88 no luck and on the 84 i have replace the front brake lines the outside shilding was coming apart ...look as far as the new cars being better brake wise my dads 72 nova WITH DRUM BRAKES has a much better brake feel then a lot of new cars ..yes it will have brake fade after 30 feet but the peddle action/feel is out standing compaired to these cars my 70 challanger out brake these cars by a long shot ....if you cap off (on the master cyl for the front brakes it as the firm fill it should if you cap off the master cyl for the back (WITH THE FRONTS CONNECTED)the peddle is mushy .this leaves the p valve, lines, and calipers, for the front as a possibilety ....now if anybody is having the same problem i'm having and they want to do the same check it would let me no that it's something to do with all third gen cars for the most part ..my 78 dodge van brake feel better!!

 

these old cars have pretty inadiquate brakes. Its just a fact of life. You could put upgraded brake lines on to reduce stretch and give slightly better feel. If the pedal feels hard and doesnt move w/o the power assist then the system is air free. Mine feels dead too. Just have to live w/ the design. I havnt done your test but you could try braded front lines, those migh give better feel. I dont know what to tell you... if it stops well and doesnt pull to one side then its probably fine. Ive always had gms so i dont notice the crappy brake feel untill i drive a different car. Ill hit the brakes in one of my friends cars and come to a screeching halt because the brakes are so different. Afternarket composnents would provide better feel if you want to go that rout. Basically the stock non 1LE brakes are ****... I might try the test later to see how it feels if i get time. Ill post back if i do.

 

i need some more plugs that fit further in the system to block off meter block , calipers ,i couldn't go further because i did not have enough plugs at the time mybe this week?.......thanks for the ideas!! so fare

 

Yup. My brakes feel the same. And except for needing new pads soon, my brakes (disc/drum) are great. I can lock up all 4 ow problem (yes, all stock, no 1LE or anything), and I have very little fade. The guy who previously owned this car obviously found a sweet pad (except for the dust)!! But yeah, my brakes do a good job, but they are very mushy, although I've grown to like having to think about hitting the brakes (gas to - used to a really soft pedal...)
Just my 2 cents....