Help - No Brakes
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 133
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From: Eastchester NY
Help - No Brakes
I was autocrossing this weekend and the brakes went out. The pedal goes to the floor. It will stop when pushed all the way to the floor but very poorly. There are no leaks in the system and pads are good. Any suggestions as to the cause?
I suspect that maybe the master cylinder went out. If so, how difficult is this to change yourself? The car has about 60K on it with lots of autocrossing.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
I suspect that maybe the master cylinder went out. If so, how difficult is this to change yourself? The car has about 60K on it with lots of autocrossing.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2010
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From: Yorktown Virginia
Resident moron
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Assachusetts
First step is to flush the fluid, I agree that you may have boiled the fluid and now you have a super spongy pedal. This should be done after or before every race, realistically. Or at least once a year.
Dope
Dope
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From: Howell Michigan
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11
I agree with flush and bleed first thing. If you still have the issue make sure the brake booster is working as it should. If that checks out, it might be the master cylinder, which is a simple replacement. If that doesn't get it, there maybe a failure in the antilock brake unit too.
Master Cylinder
Master Cylinder
Last edited by Eric D; Oct 13, 2010 at 12:59 PM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 133
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From: Eastchester NY
Thanks everyone. In the past month the brakes have occassionally gone to the floor while autocrossing only to come right back. I thought maybe the fluid was boiling so several times I removed fluid from the brake fluid reservoir and added new fluid.
As it is now, if you press on the brake pedal in a typical manner it goes to the floor and provides some braking when pressed all the way to the floor. However, if you stab the brake pedal, you get a brief instant of normal braking but then the pedal goes to the floor. Also, you can pump the pedal and again get a brief instant of normal braking but then it goes to the floor.
I don't think a mere brake bleed will fix the problem but I will give that a try first.
As it is now, if you press on the brake pedal in a typical manner it goes to the floor and provides some braking when pressed all the way to the floor. However, if you stab the brake pedal, you get a brief instant of normal braking but then the pedal goes to the floor. Also, you can pump the pedal and again get a brief instant of normal braking but then it goes to the floor.
I don't think a mere brake bleed will fix the problem but I will give that a try first.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 133
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From: Eastchester NY
I will also check the brake booster to make sure that none of the lines have collapsed, etc. ABS seems doubtful because I don't see why it would affect pedal travel. I also think that ABS failure would give me a lot of codes.
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2008
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From: Eastchester NY
Yes, not pads. Getting TCS code C1292H. Cannot seem to find a description for this code. I saw a thread which seemed to say that this indicates low brake pressure which would be consistent with my problem but I cannot seem to find any support for this. Anyone know anything about this code? I see some references for codes 1291 (Open brake lamp sw contacts during deccel) and 1293 (DTC C1291/C1292 Set curnt/prev ign cycle) but they are unclear and don't give me any insight into C1292.
Tech Contributor
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From: Howell Michigan
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2008
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From: Eastchester NY
I got it from the Chevy dealer. I have friends there who give me a really good discount.
I looked around to see if there was an upgrade. Doug Rippie makes one that holds more fluid but they said that it doesn't work particularly well with the stock brakes and should be used with a big brake upgrade.
I looked around to see if there was an upgrade. Doug Rippie makes one that holds more fluid but they said that it doesn't work particularly well with the stock brakes and should be used with a big brake upgrade.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
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From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Getting TCS code C1292H. Cannot seem to find a description for this code. I saw a thread which seemed to say that this indicates low brake pressure which would be consistent with my problem but I cannot seem to find any support for this. Anyone know anything about this code? I see some references for codes 1291 (Open brake lamp sw contacts during deccel) and 1293 (DTC C1291/C1292 Set curnt/prev ign cycle) but they are unclear and don't give me any insight into C1292.
I answered the question in your other thread:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...tcs-c1292.html
Bill
Thread Starter
Instructor
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From: Eastchester NY
Glad you got it fixed. You have to look at the proper code lookup based on the year of the car. You have a 2001 or newer C5 and the codes are different from the earlier cars.
I answered the question in your other thread:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...tcs-c1292.html
Bill
I answered the question in your other thread:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...tcs-c1292.html
Bill
Thanks.