Need advice on 86 brakes
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 737
Likes: 100
From: Bowling Green, Kentucky
Need advice on 86 brakes
My son has an 86 Vette and says his brakes are not fully releasing and creating heat. I have pulled the wheels and find some discoloration of the rotors but not severe. The car is obviously 18 years old, but with only 23,000 miles. Not driven much in the past few years by previous owner. We have put about 3,000 miles on it and this brake thing has just started to happen. Do you have any advice? Is this common for the circumstances?
Any advice would be most welcome.
Any advice would be most welcome.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
From: South Cave, Brough East Yorkshire
Hi i`m sure ppl will give u loads of stuff to check for b4 u replace the callipers - but on my car (also an 86), that`s what it was. The front ones were dragging a little - and the more i drove it the hotter it got making the problem worse - until one day my fluid boiled.
Nyway i got some exchange callipers and all is well now.
Of course my car hasn`t only done 23k - 140 k in fact - but it may be your problem.
B4 i changed the callipers i checked a load of other stuff first - from simple stuff like re-greasing the edges of the pads and making sure the callipers were clean, to taking the callipers appart, cleaning and re-assembling.
I think other stuff to check that can cause this though are partially blocked or collapsed brake lines, a faulty master cylinder and even calliper guide pins.
I`d just check the easiest / cheapest things first and try to elimate the problem - but if its any guidance to u, my spares place told me the callipers sticking is a common problem.
Good luck
Dom
Nyway i got some exchange callipers and all is well now.
Of course my car hasn`t only done 23k - 140 k in fact - but it may be your problem.
B4 i changed the callipers i checked a load of other stuff first - from simple stuff like re-greasing the edges of the pads and making sure the callipers were clean, to taking the callipers appart, cleaning and re-assembling.
I think other stuff to check that can cause this though are partially blocked or collapsed brake lines, a faulty master cylinder and even calliper guide pins.
I`d just check the easiest / cheapest things first and try to elimate the problem - but if its any guidance to u, my spares place told me the callipers sticking is a common problem.
Good luck
Dom
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 927
Likes: 0
From: Saginaw TX
The problem may be that brake fluid being (big word) able to absorb a lot of moisture and if it was not changed or maintained, may have allowed rust or corrosion to build up in the calipers. If you do replace the calipers try to get all of the old fluid out that you can. I have started sucking out what I can out of the reservoir at oil changes and refilling with fresh to try and keep it cleaner. Good Luck
Race Director
Joined: Dec 1999
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From: Almost all Skyline Cruises Vettes at Waterside 1-5
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Originally Posted by Garry Luterek
So where do your guys recommend I look for new calipers? 
b4 I looked 4 new calipers (sorry about the obvious play on previous post)I would check the caliper hardware, including sliding rods (notsure what they are called on an 86)
If you want new calipers and hardware, check out superiorperformance.com
seeya
Team Owner
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 24,337
Likes: 25
From: San Diego , CA Double Yellow DirtBags 1985..Z51..6-speed
Yeah, clean up your caliper bracket pins. These are what allow the caliper to stay centered on the rotor during braking and releasing. They're probably siezed up.
Those caliper bolts will be fun to remove. Soak em with WD40 a few times the day before you try to break em loose.
Those caliper bolts will be fun to remove. Soak em with WD40 a few times the day before you try to break em loose.
