I've got a series of brake related problems that I can't seem to diagnose & I think they may all be related...

Here's the list: ('92 coupe)

- Brake light stays on
- Service ASR light stays on
- Service ABS light stays on
- Pedal is hard but stopping power is pretty soft (not enough to slam an unexpecting passenger against the dash )
- Front left brake creaks when I am very slowly inching forward
- Front left rotor drags against the 3 month old pads in one place. When I spin the rotor, it gets slowed down or stopped during one part of the revolution when the rotor drags on the pads.
- Recently, after driving in stop & go traffic for about 2 hours my brake pedal went to the floor & I barely got the car stopped. I pulled into a neighborhood and let the car cool down (brake fluid was OK). After cooling for about 30min the brakes were ok again... Not sure what happened.


All of this started when I changed the pads on all 4 brakes last November. I though it had something to do with the parking brake but now I think it is something else.

I bled the modulator valve as well as each of the calipers today but it didn't fix the problem.

I think I can have the rotor turned to fix the front left creak. If that doesn't work I'll change the pads again. If that doesn't work, perhaps the caliper is bent slightly sideways and needs to be replaced?

My major problem is with the Brake, ASR & ABS lights staying on. How could I have caused this problem when I changed the pads 6 months ago?

Any ideas will be appreciated. I really don't want to slowly change the entire brake system, piece by piece, until the problem goes away... though it may be an inevitable part of my future

Thanks!

Mark

 

you are ignoring the main problem here... it sounds like the following:

1) The booster is shot. That's why you have such a hard pedal.

2) The master cylinder is not long for this work. That's why it went to the floor.

3) I would check to be 100% sure that the brake lines are not compromised.

As for the ABS and ASR, read this document:

www.c4guru.com - 1992/1993 Code Reading

This will show you how to read codes related to the ABS and ASR systems.

 

Don't worry about ABS & ASR. Those go nuts if anything goes wrong with the brakes. If you don't have enough fluid, they go nuts.

Fix the hard pedal first--as said, start w/booster.

 

Update:

I got a remanufactured booster & installed it, bled the brakes, etc...

Test drive:
Pedal is not all that hard but better and, if I slam on it, the car does not stop very quickly. Master Cylinder?

A new thing too: When I press down hard on the brake pedal & hold it, "Sys" flashes on the display a few times & then it goes back to showing the mileage.

I pulled out my Actron code reader (instead of a paper clip) and set it to ABS. When I turn the key I don't get any flashing signal, not even code 12. To test, I set the Actron to "Engine" & did get a code 12 three times so I know it's working. I thought that the "Sys" would indicate that my ABS error system would work too but apparently not. Any idea on what could be causing the Sys or why I can't read the ABS errors? Service ABS & Service ASR are still staying on.

Thanks,

Mark

p.s. I'm still getting a groan from my front left wheel when I have the brake pedal down & inch forward. Master Cyllinder?