Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Capt. Pork on July 04, 2004, 10:30:51 AM
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This happened about 2 weeks ago.
I was on my way home from school at College Park when I stopped at a gas station to fill up. The brakes on my 96 tahoe were a bit soft so I checked the brake fluid. The pads need to be replaced but I figured it would be a temporary solution to just shore up the fluid. I added some and got back on the road.
About five minutes later I started to notice that the brake pedal was a bit harder to depress than usual. It still worked, but the faster and harder I mashed it, the more resistance it put up.
I spent the next half hour in traffic on the beltway.
When I got off the beltway, the brake pedal was as hard as a brick. I'd mash down on it with all my weight and it would slowly, gradually reach the floor board. The car would slow down, but never come to a sudden halt. Also, the sound of air escaping air would eminate from the pedal whenever I touched it. Finally, and most perplexing, is that whenever I'd come to a stop at a light, with the tranny in drive and the brake down to the floor just to keep the car from rolling out into the intersection, the engine would die. I had to keep it in neutral.
Made an emergency stop at a service station. Guy there, who'd changed my oil before, took a good look at me, a less thorough look at the truck and told me that the master brake cylinder needed replacing. $800-$1000, says mullet-head. I thanked him and drove home, my hazard lights blinking.
Anyway, Tahoe's still fluffied... It was 80 miles shy of 100,000 and completely unusable.
Anyone know what the deal might be with the brakes.
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Yeah- it sounds like the Master Cylinder. Should run about 800-1000 dollars to fix if a mechanic does it, but if I were you I'd go to Kragen's, buy a rebuilt one (not sure what they cost) and change it yourself. It's not that hard to do.
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Sounds like you lost the power assist on your power brakes. Look for a leaking line or if the hissing is coming from the diaphragm bell in the master cyl. assembly. If it is the master cylinder they can be purchased for quite a bit less than the quote from the station. They were trying to rip you bad.
If you are handy it can be done in your home garage. If not, then check with a mechanically inclined buddy. Definately DO NOT DRIVE IT IN THAT CONDITION.
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Mav, when did you start RV'ing full time? I thought you did that aircraft class and planned on working a second career-
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What Maverick said. $1000.00!!!! No way I'd spend $1000.00 to change out a $200.00 part.
Buy the Chilton's manual for your car and the part. feel free to ask any questions on the BBS there are many of us who will help.
good luck.
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You can pick up a master cylinder for about 150 bucks. Complete... On Ebay. All you need to do is put it in yourself or if you dont know how or dont want to bother just bring it somewhere to have it done. Do a search on ebay motors and buy one :)
BTW- I'm almost certain thats whats wrong with your brakes. But its hard to tell not seeing it first hand.
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I'm with the others,do it yourself.
Even with little mechanical experience,I'll bet you could do it in less than an hour.
Buy the new one,place it in a vice,use the bleeding kit that comes with it to remove the air bubbles as you add brake fluid.
The 1989 Nissan 240SX I gave my nephew needed the master replaced replaced.Two bolts,three brake fluid lines and one electrical connection and about 30 minutes later it was done.Make sure you use plumber's tape in the threads when you re-attach the brake lines to prevent leaks.
When you are done,if the brakes feel"mushy",then you'll need to bleed the brakes to remove air bubbles.This will cost you about $100 if you can't do it yourself.
If you were here,I could point it out to you,show what to disconnect,and you could do it in about an hour.It really is that simple.
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I think that it's the power assist. It sounds like you are getting no assist and something is putting a load on your engine (engine died). The assist may be really screwed up and dragging. If its not hard to loosen the power assist belt, do it and see how hard or difficult it is to turn the pump by hand.
eskimo
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Did a quick search at Autozone.com:
MASTER CYLINDER (BRAKE SYSTEM) for a
1996 CHEVROLET TRUCK TAHOE 2WD
WITH GASOLINE ENGINE
Item Part No. Warranty Core Value UnitPrice
FENCO_REMAN M3034 LLT $30.00 $30.99
FENCO_NEW
WITH RESERVOIR NM3034 LLT $0 $103.99
BRAKE POWER BOOSTER for a
1996 CHEVROLET TRUCK TAHOE 2WD:
CARDONE
WITH MASTER CYLINDER 50-1098 LLT $54.00 $142.99
It will take you about an hour to do the job. Auto Zone also has a free online repair guide that will take you step by step. I'd suggest replacing the brake pads and flushing the system with new fluid while you are at it. Takes about another hour.
Get the parts and get greasy!
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Thanks guys.
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you have two problems, a vacume leak to the power booster and/or a bad booster (hard pedal, no stopping power,eng runs rough) and a internal leaking master cyl (pedal goes to floor).
replace booster and master cyl and make sure there are no vac leaks to the booster.
buy rebuilt parts at a discount auto parts place and fix it your self , not hard ...well ok , not hard for me, i'm a retired auto tech.
note* the master cyl kit will tell you how to prebleed the cyl before you install it, if you are carefull not to lose any fluid from the brake lines when you replace the cyl you will not even have to bleed the brakes at each wheel.
good luck.
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the engine stalling and the hissing sound could indicate a vacuum leak to the master cyl. Check the vac lines to the booster before spending a lot of money.
cars
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Just one thing. I'm sure your car is fitted with ABS. If you change the master cylinder yourself, you need to know how to bleed the system correctly. THE ABS UNIT DOES NOT BLEED IN AN OLD FASHIONED WAY. It needs special techniques for bleeding, and if it can be done without special tools you will certainly need a service manual and some experience. I've learned this by the hard way.
I would not trust just any carage in this thing either. I'd take the car to a licenced dealership.
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Originally posted by cars
the engine stalling and the hissing sound could indicate a vacuum leak to the master cyl. Check the vac lines to the booster before spending a lot of money.
cars
This is certainly a very likely possibility. Check the vacuum connection(s) to the brake booster(the large round thing behind the master cylinder). If the vacuum connection is intact then the booster might be broken, listen for a hissing sound when pressing the brake pedal.
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Airhead,
The house closed the 11th of June. Sold the vehicles too except for the converted semi tractor that tows our 5th wheel RV.
I did the A&P thing for a while. Planned on working more time but the wife retired also so we could get free and just go. I won't wait for someday. My wifes bout with cancer was a wakeup call that someday might not get here if you wait too long. We're in Ft. Knox KY. RV park now and heading to Wright Patterson on Tuesday for a bout 3 days. Then it's further north east with some RV friends of ours.
Life is good and the vacation is now permanent. :D
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Thanks for all the advice guys.
I appreciate it.
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yep... vacum leak at the booster or lines going from the manifold to the booster and sounds like you still may have a bad master cylinder. Seems odd both would go out at the same time tho... check the line and connections for the booster first.
the parts should be cheap even at your local discount auto. Call around. The only real problem will be bleeding the brake system (purging of air)when you are done. If you have never done it get someone who has to give you a hand. If you don't bleed the brakes (ms and lines) properly, all the new parts in the world won't help.
lazs