Brake pedal is hard
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 835
Likes: 3
From: Water Winter Wonderland
Re: Brake pedal is hard (Kehrer923)
Oh oh. Sounds like your vacuum booster isn't working.
1) It's under the hood, on the driver's side. Check to see if the vacuum line (about a 1/2" black hose) is securely connected to it.
2) If #1 OK, then borrow or buy a small hand-held vacuum pump w/guage, hook it up to the booster, pump it up, and see it it "holds".
If it's the booster, you're out a couple hundred bucks. They're not too bad to replace, except for the two bolts inside the car under the dash are a little hard to get at. Don't be tempted to buy a cheap booster at your local parts store, I've tried two, each lasting a couple months longer than the 1 year warranty. The genuine GM one from the dealer is the way to go, in my opinion.
Good lucK!
1) It's under the hood, on the driver's side. Check to see if the vacuum line (about a 1/2" black hose) is securely connected to it.
2) If #1 OK, then borrow or buy a small hand-held vacuum pump w/guage, hook it up to the booster, pump it up, and see it it "holds".
If it's the booster, you're out a couple hundred bucks. They're not too bad to replace, except for the two bolts inside the car under the dash are a little hard to get at. Don't be tempted to buy a cheap booster at your local parts store, I've tried two, each lasting a couple months longer than the 1 year warranty. The genuine GM one from the dealer is the way to go, in my opinion.
Good lucK!
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: Rochester MI
Re: Brake pedal is hard (Kehrer923)
Please, define "hard." Is it so hard that it is difficult to drive the car, or actually annoying. My brake pedal has always been much more firm than my buddies '95, but I didn't think that there was a problem.
