brkntrxn

I replied on your other thread.

stuiephoto

Currently running stock c6z brakes with st-43 pads. Rather than overhaul that system, im looking for a small bump in performance on a budget. I didnt really have huge issues with the stock calipers performance. I want to retain stock rotor sizes.

Is the TCE aero6 kit going to be my best choice for that price range?

ErnieN85

Best bang for the buck, That I have found.

Collina

I have a question. My 2016 zo6 has 12000 miles. I keep getting this message pop up on my dash service brakes worn. I took it to the dealership but they do not know how to get it to go away. My pads are still good shape. They said I have ceramic brakes on my car so I do not hav e to worry about damaging the rotors. I am worried because I had a 2014 stingray and I did ruin the rotors on that vehicle.. so now I just drive with this stupid message going on and off.

Bill Dearborn

Find a different dealership with some mechanics that know what they are doing.

The brake warning is going off because one of the sensor wires is broken. The sensor is just a piece of material that holds a wire inside it and when the rotor wears the material down to the wire the wire breaks and the warning appears on the dash. If all of the sensors in the car are in good shape that means the wire is broken somewhere else. In the wiring going from the pad to the connector on the cradle, in the connector on the cradle (not making a good connection) or the wire inside the car wiring harness that goes from the cradle connector to the electronics that sense the open circuit.

Since the message is going off an on it sure sounds like you have a bad connection in one of the four connectors at the cradles or a wire that has been damaged and presents an intermittent open circuit as it flexes.

If a trained mechanic can't find an open circuit or use the GM diagnostic tools to find a bad electronic module then maybe it is time to find somebody that has a brain.

Your pads may be fine and you may not be in any danger of ruining the rotors anywhere in the near future but a certain time the pads will be worn and you don't want to be driving along thinking you don't have a problem when you actually do. The ceramic rotors cost a small fortune when purchased from Amazon and a large fortune when purchased from the dealer. Is the mechanic who is telling you don't worry going to pay for replacing a rotor if one is damaged due to a pad wearing out or coming apart.

Bill

froggy47

What Bill said, if you keep going back to the same incompetent dealer techs then the fault is on you.

RagingGrandpa

Hey JRitt-

Are these snake oil, or useful?

JRitt@essex

Negative Ghost Rider. They won't be of any benefit to you. Skip them.

Dkay

I am rebuilding my sleeved C3 calipers - switching to o rings away from lip seals- my question is Use the springs or Leave them out - hope I am in the right place - thanks

Bill Dearborn

That does take us back in time. I sold my C3 30 years ago this month. The springs are anti knock back springs and kept the pads in contact with the rotors so you could get quick brake reaction and less pedal travel. However, I know if rotor run out exceeded a certain amount you would get air pumping by the piston seal into the caliper which led to some spectacular brake failures. Leaving the springs out stopped the pistons from constantly moving in and out with the rotor run out and probably stopped the air pumping but I can't remember whether or not there were issues with brake pedal travel when that was done. You would definitely get some pad knock back from any run out but as long as it was small it shouldn't affect the pedal travel that much. The choice is pad knock back or air pumping and both are resolved by making sure rotor run out is within GM specs.

If they were in the calipers before you started this rebuild and you weren't having any issues with air getting into the brake system I would leave them in. If you did have issues with air in the brakes I would take a look at rotor run out to see if that was the culprit.

My knowledge is 30 years old although I did own two C3 Corvettes for a total of 15 years. I had leaky calipers that had to be rebuilt but I never ran into the air pumping problem but I knew several people who did and I knew several Chevy Mechanics who were dumbfounded by how the air was getting into the brakes until the run out issue was found. One mechanic told me he rebuilt everything in the system, bled the brakes, test drove the car around the block and lost the brakes when he was driving back into the garage.

Bill

Dkay

Anyone have experience with o ring conversion from the factory lip seals??- some have told me
to leave existing springs- others have said leave them out - would like to be sure- run out has been a issue in to past- drive 100 miles on the freeway then NO BRAKES- thanks Bill

Bill Dearborn

I wasn't familiar with the O Ring Conversion for the calipers so did some searching. Here is an interesting forum post from a few years ago by a person called Dub. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1571797495
.
It looks to me like the O ring seals reduce the chance of air pumping but the caliper design is still susceptible to it if rotor run out gets very large. One thing the post does is explain why the springs should be left in the calipers. It also recommends that periodic brake maintenance be performed to ensure a leak free brake system.

Bill

TBRAUNSKI

For what it's worth in my 1999 FRC with Z06 Calipers when I go to BIR I use solid cast rotors, e.g. Bendix and use CARBOTECH XP12 compound in front and XP10 in the rear with fresh ATP BLUE fluid. This set up provides solid repeated stopping with excellent modulation for me.

williamarthurascs

62 C1 drums front and rear. Just completed a complete brake job, new shoes, drums, cylinders, hardware, repacked front bearings and replaced rear axle bearings. Left rear brake overheats!! only after a short drive (10) miles. adjusted brake shoes repeatedly with no resolution. What could possible cause this brake to get SMOKIN hot?

Bill Dearborn

If I remember correctly the old drums had slots in the rear so you could adjust the brakes while turning the drum. That way you could hear the shoes dragging on the drum when they just started to hit the drum. Self adjusters for drum brakes didn't come around for another 5 or 6 years.

I also remember the shoes were self energizing when they moved out to hit the drum. The secondary shoe would rotate forward as the brakes were applied while driving forward and that action would help shove the primary shoe into the drum.

Did you try and adjust the left rear shoes so there they didn't drag on the drum at all while you were adjusting them?

Did you accidentally swap primary and secondary shoes at that wheel? I think I remember reversing the shoes would cause more engagement which could result in higher braking at that wheel thus higher temps. Does that wheel lock up sooner than the other three?

Bill

jdm767

I have a question for you!

'03 Z06. Wilwood 6 piston front, 4 piston rear. NOT the Superlights, but the big brakes...

So I lifted the car to change the brake fluid. Took all four wheels off, sucked out most of the Master cylinder fluid, replaced with Motul 660. Went to the rear of the car (right side, of course) and loosened the bleed. Applied vacuum (cap off of the Master cylinder)... and nothing happened. Hmmm... Kinda weird, fluid DID leak around the base of the bleed screw. Tried the other bleed valve on the same caliper. Same result. Left the bottle attached to the nipple, tried to bleed the old fashion way - push the brake pedal. Wouldn't budge. Okay... Tried the left front. Same results. Thought perhaps I needed to run the car for a moment or two to make things right. No change. Maybe some sensor doesn't like all four wheels being off the ground, put all four tires back on, lowered the car. Tried again (much more difficult to get to the bleeder with the wheel on!). Same result...

This morning I intend to take the car off of the lift and make sure I HAVE any braking at all. If so, then drive it a little and then try to bleed by lifting only one corner at a time.

Here's a really dumb question - do guys who track with Wilwood have a solid (no pass through) bleed screw that they keep in place for driving, but a separate bleed screw that they install only for the purpose of bleeding, and then reinstall the solid screw? I ask because Wilwood said to stick a needle into the valve to clean it out. When I did, the needle would not pass through and I could feel a solid surface about 2/3's of the way into the valve (1/3 if you went in the other end...)

Your thoughts?

Thank you!
Jeff

juanvaldez

Something a little different:

I am building a Birkin Lotus 7 clone, Wilwood 4 piston calipers in front VW GTI calipers in rear, Wilwood pedal box, both master cylinders 3/4", brake bias adjusted all the way to front but still too much rear brake. What way to go on master cylinder size to get the bias more toward front?

96CollectorSport

To increase the pressure you would decrease the size of the master cylinder. The same force on a smaller area would increase pressure.
To reduce the pressure you would increase the size of the master cylinder.

TCE has a dual master cylinder bias calculator that may be able to help you push some numbers around - http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com/dual-bias-calc/

96CollectorSport

Just a quick question are you loosening the brass colored fitting or the black 1/4" fitting in the bleeder pictured below?

0Todd TCE

Was going to be my question also.

Only the black portion is turned to bleed. (1/4" box)

While you could push a pin down the nipple it won't go very far. The bottom is cross drilled from one side- not the bottom I'd say maybe...3/8" perhaps? I'd urge you to blow them out with an air gun not poke grit down into it.

If you still don't get any flow remove the entire brass fitting. This will expose the entire fluid passage so you should see fluid come up real fast as gravity will do it's thing. Check the combo nipple shown and clean it out or replace it. With fluid running everywhere...screw it back in with the black part open. When it starts coming out of that black par; close it. You'll be pretty well bled out.