Hi folks, I am a fairly new owner and after purchase in October I had a problem with the L/F brake locking up. I was on the highway and things got pretty hot so I replaced the wheel bearing rotor and hose on that side. Drove the car about 30 miles afterwards and thought I had the problem solved. I had really put the car to bed for the winter but the near 60 degree weather tempted me to go for a ride. Low and behold I have a brake light on again. I have the hose for the right side I am going to install but I don't think that is the problem. I could feel the brakes dragging as a coasted and both from wheels felt hot. I am guessing I have a bad master cylinder. I have had a lot of brake issues but never had a master cylinder car a brake drag. Any thoughts out there. Thanks, Bob

 

Hi Bob welcome, never heard of a master cylinder freezing/locking up but maybe it could happen. I think it's more likely your calipers are locking up, have seen that happen frequently, which wheels are getting hot? Have you changed/flushed the brake fluid? What year is your car? How are the pads wearing?

 

HI, It is a 1985 model. I have replaced the L/F wheel bearing hub, hose and caliper. I have the new hose to install on the R/F. After the light came on and I could feel the car dragging when coasting I felt both from wheels and both were warm but not hot like then the L/F was locking up. I flushed a lot of fluid through when I replaced the L side equipment. The fact that both sides felt warm and the car didn't seem to be pulling either direction made me suspicion of something that would impact both wheels. I am like you and haven't ran into a master cylinder causing this problem. I will probably replace the right side line and see what happens. The previous owner had just replaced the brake pads.

I am not getting off to a good start with my first Corvette. I thought I purchased a good one. The previous owner had done lots of work but I am finding lots of little issues. Thanks, Bob

 

Remember, you bought an old Chevrolet, before you bought a Corvette! You can count on small issues and also maybe a big one or two.. just how it goes..... the car is 33 years old.... You sure its not your e brake shoes locking up in the rear rotors?

 

Rear wheels were cool as can be. I will double check. I know the first problem was the L/F rotor and brake line. The bearing was hot enough that it threw grease down the side of the car. Right on the old part. I will get through it. I have the garage space, four wheel lift, and trolley lift to get things. up in the air. I am in much better shape than the old days working in the driveway. I was suspicious of the emergency brake since the previous owner was a bit worried when I applied it. he said he never used it.

 

You only change one hose on an old car? I'd have changed all the hoses with something like braided hose then flushed. Are you sure the calipers are not sticking?

 

Here's a little test, jack up the front wheels on jack stands, start the car, press the brake pedal hard and release, go spin the wheels, they should spin freely with little drag. If they dont spin freely, rock the tire left to right with short choppy stokes, then spin the wheel again, if there's less resistance the caliper is probably sticking and needs to be replaced or rebuilt. Another thing you can check is pull the caliper and take a C clamp or caliper compression tool. Remove the cap, to the master cylinder, run the clamp in on an old brake pad and compress the caliper piston in all the way to it's seat. It should retract easily without much pressure from the clamp. On a good caliper this can almost be done by hand depending on how much strength you have. If you are getting serious resistance trying to press the piston in caliper is bad.

 

Hi guys, Back working on the Corvette. The question came up on why only change one hose. I purchased both hoses but somewhere in the middle I ended up with a torn Macular and required eye surgery on October 5th. I am just now back to where I can see enough to begin working on the car again. I installed the second hose on Sunday and working alone set up a bleeding bottle. When I first attempted to push the pedal down with my hand (car was on the lift) I couldn't budge it. With the bleeder open I climbed up in and with significant foot pressure the pedal finally went down. I couldn't see anything in the bleed bottle except dirty fluid. I continued to bleed the left side and then went back and bled the right side until the fluid was clean. I can't believe how dirty the fluid was. The car had recently had a brake job by the previous owner but no one must have flushed the fluid since new. I am cleaning the suspension and will grease things today before I put the wheels back on for test drive. Next on the hit list is the back hoses and brake fluid. I will let you know how I come out. Bob

Our Advantnage 9000 XLT lift. We love it.

You can actually tell the suspension is aluminum.

 

I had a problem with my 95. The front breaks were dragging. When you jacked up the wheel and turned it, it would be hard to turn. I took the breaks apart and the problem was with the shoes fitting to tight in the frame and not allowing the breaks to center when not applied. So one side of the breaks would rub the rotors. I had to clean up the metal backing on the pads with a file. Seemed to fix the problem. Also gas millage improved.

 

I suggest that when working on brakes always do "fixes" on the axel not just on one wheel.

 

good to see another gold car like my 86., This doesnt sound like a master cyl problem. best of luck,