It Worked! $0 spent
10-02-2010, 01:34 PM
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It Worked! $0 spent
I bought a ral nice 94 C4 about a week ago and on the way home I found the brake pedal was very hard and the brakes didn't slow the car down like I thought they should. I got on the CV tech forum and searched for "brakes". I ran across a very lengthy thread (17 pages in fact) and read through the entire thread. On the second to last page THEADMIRAL84 posted the following:
Abs/asr reset didn't do it -> but engaging abs did!
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Problem Statement: since complete redo of brakes (all oem) 5+ years ago (5-6K ago), brakes have continued to be 'so so' (pedal hard as if booster was not working and stopping distance way too long).
Blue skies finally appeared, so I had an chance to take the car for a run to see if the reset of the non-existant ABS/ASR codes (DTC's -- -- via CCM diagnostics - module 9 on the 1994), which emmitted a click under the dash AND in/around the ABS/ASR unit behind the driver seat, would make any difference.
Well I'm sorry to advise that in-of-itself, the reset DID NOTHING. The pedal continued to be hard and no change in the stopping distance.
HOWEVER (READ ON-- GOOD NEWS BELOW):
Unfortunately/Fortunately it decided to rain while I was out (OH NO I"M Melting ).
So being the 1st time the car has been on wet roads since the brake job 5-yrs+ ago, I took advantage, and though very difficult to initially engage the ABS (OEM Goodyear tires DID NOT want to skid), I was able to engage the ABS 3-5 times at about 20-30 MPH with a simluated 'panic' stop (each time I tried to put a different tire on a wet spot of the road).
When it engaged, there was a noticable rumble (likely from behind me, but not sure) and after the 1st time, the pedal did go soft for a moment or two, just like normal ABS brakes.
AMAZINGLY, after the 3rd or 4th 'panic' stop to engage the ABS, the pedal STARTED to feel NORMAL (i.e. not hard like booster is not working with long stopping distances) ___AND___ the car now STOPS quickly and within much-more-normal stopping distances, and what I would have expected from a top-of-the-line sports car.
As I was triying to avoid more rain and the wet roads are not something I normally drive the Vette upon anyway, I did not continue to test the 'new' brake feel beyond a mile or so...
So the next 'blue sky' event that occurs, i wil take it back out and try the brakes and report back -- but I am hopeful that the brakes are now FIXED...
Therefore, whereas I had read years ago (likely on this forum) the need to bleed the brakes, go out and engage the ABS, then do additional bleeding -- I truely don't remember if way-back-when I had engaged/been able to engage the ABS.
So, if I didn't engage the ABS way-back-then, shame on me..
However, it's also possible the 'reset' of the ABS DTC's (albeit there were none), might have faciliated the 'fix', but for sure it was the 'panic-stop' 'engagement' of the ABS on the wet roads which caused the change and 'FIXED' the brakes.
BOTTOM LINE RECOMMENDATION:
1. if possible/knowledgable -- RESET ABS/ASR codes (even if none)
2. Call the rain-gods and order some rain
3. perform 4-5 panic stops, assuring the ABS engages, and try and change which wheel is on the 'wet' spot of the road with each stop to 'rotate' the ABS channel which must be engaged. Try NOT to allow the car to come to a complete stop, as that has been known to warp rotors -- especially with brand new brakes.
4. -- as hopefully the brakes are now 'fixed'.
5. Wash and wax the car which is now all wet and dirty
Today it rained a little so I took the Vette up to an empty parking lot and tried his "fix". It worked! My brake pedal now has nromal feel to it and the car stops much better. If you have a hard brake pedal and so-so braking, give this a try. I was impressed to say the least. Now I want to flush out the braking system (fluid very dirty) and should that flush out whatever was affecting the brake system. I've got a power bleeder and speed bleeders on order form CC so I'll do that when they arrive. I plan on pumping at least 2 quarts of Dot3 through. My son who is also a Vette pwner recommended ceramic pads and may do those next.
Abs/asr reset didn't do it -> but engaging abs did!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem Statement: since complete redo of brakes (all oem) 5+ years ago (5-6K ago), brakes have continued to be 'so so' (pedal hard as if booster was not working and stopping distance way too long).
Blue skies finally appeared, so I had an chance to take the car for a run to see if the reset of the non-existant ABS/ASR codes (DTC's -- -- via CCM diagnostics - module 9 on the 1994), which emmitted a click under the dash AND in/around the ABS/ASR unit behind the driver seat, would make any difference.
Well I'm sorry to advise that in-of-itself, the reset DID NOTHING. The pedal continued to be hard and no change in the stopping distance.
HOWEVER (READ ON-- GOOD NEWS BELOW):
Unfortunately/Fortunately it decided to rain while I was out (OH NO I"M Melting ).
So being the 1st time the car has been on wet roads since the brake job 5-yrs+ ago, I took advantage, and though very difficult to initially engage the ABS (OEM Goodyear tires DID NOT want to skid), I was able to engage the ABS 3-5 times at about 20-30 MPH with a simluated 'panic' stop (each time I tried to put a different tire on a wet spot of the road).
When it engaged, there was a noticable rumble (likely from behind me, but not sure) and after the 1st time, the pedal did go soft for a moment or two, just like normal ABS brakes.
AMAZINGLY, after the 3rd or 4th 'panic' stop to engage the ABS, the pedal STARTED to feel NORMAL (i.e. not hard like booster is not working with long stopping distances) ___AND___ the car now STOPS quickly and within much-more-normal stopping distances, and what I would have expected from a top-of-the-line sports car.
As I was triying to avoid more rain and the wet roads are not something I normally drive the Vette upon anyway, I did not continue to test the 'new' brake feel beyond a mile or so...
So the next 'blue sky' event that occurs, i wil take it back out and try the brakes and report back -- but I am hopeful that the brakes are now FIXED...
Therefore, whereas I had read years ago (likely on this forum) the need to bleed the brakes, go out and engage the ABS, then do additional bleeding -- I truely don't remember if way-back-when I had engaged/been able to engage the ABS.
So, if I didn't engage the ABS way-back-then, shame on me..
However, it's also possible the 'reset' of the ABS DTC's (albeit there were none), might have faciliated the 'fix', but for sure it was the 'panic-stop' 'engagement' of the ABS on the wet roads which caused the change and 'FIXED' the brakes.
BOTTOM LINE RECOMMENDATION:
1. if possible/knowledgable -- RESET ABS/ASR codes (even if none)
2. Call the rain-gods and order some rain
3. perform 4-5 panic stops, assuring the ABS engages, and try and change which wheel is on the 'wet' spot of the road with each stop to 'rotate' the ABS channel which must be engaged. Try NOT to allow the car to come to a complete stop, as that has been known to warp rotors -- especially with brand new brakes.
4. -- as hopefully the brakes are now 'fixed'.
5. Wash and wax the car which is now all wet and dirty
Today it rained a little so I took the Vette up to an empty parking lot and tried his "fix". It worked! My brake pedal now has nromal feel to it and the car stops much better. If you have a hard brake pedal and so-so braking, give this a try. I was impressed to say the least. Now I want to flush out the braking system (fluid very dirty) and should that flush out whatever was affecting the brake system. I've got a power bleeder and speed bleeders on order form CC so I'll do that when they arrive. I plan on pumping at least 2 quarts of Dot3 through. My son who is also a Vette pwner recommended ceramic pads and may do those next.
10-02-2010, 03:17 PM
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