brake trouble

speedfreak

Registered User
When I would step on the brake peddle in my 90SC, the "brake" and "ABS" lights would come on momentarily, and it felt like there was a dead spot in the first half inch of pedal travel. When I would try to stop quick, it felt like the car weighed 10k lbs. Sometimes it would even lock up the front wheels under hard braking. So, I figured it was the accumulater. I swapped the accumulator out of my 89SC (which brakes fine). Now the car stops good, but the "brake" light stays on all the time, and if I accelerate hard, the "ABS" light with come on momentarily. Anyone ever had this problem? Do I need to bleed the system?
 
Check the fluid level in the reservoir...

You shouldn't need to bleed the system after replacing the accumulator, but you will need to replace the brake fluid that was trapped in the old accumulator when you removed it. Check the reservoir and see if you are low on fluid.
 
you were right.......fluid was below the full mark (only like an eighth inch) put a little fluid in.....problem solved
 
Accumulator

My accum is going bad if it hasn't already, but I am having problems finding one. Any ideas? Thanks in advance... ;)

LJGriggs said:
You shouldn't need to bleed the system after replacing the accumulator, but you will need to replace the brake fluid that was trapped in the old accumulator when you removed it. Check the reservoir and see if you are low on fluid.
 
you have to contact prior reman.. you can go to their website...
http://www.priorreman.com/ call them directly and they should sell you one for around 100 bucks plus shipping.... good luck... they are probably the only supplier in the modern world to still provide them for these cars...
 
Bleeding WOES! Please help...

:confused: I changed my front brake pads the other day and noticed that when I went to "seat" them before putting the wheels back on I noticed that my driver's side was barely moving. So I tried bleeding it and got nothing but air (and DUST!). I had my "assistant" depress the pedal while I loosened the bleeder and so on and so forth...like bleeding brakes goes. I got a lot of air out, or thought so, and very little fluid. I've made sure I have fluid in my res and all that basic stuff and still it's not gotten much better. I've also tried making sure that the caliper isn't stuck...etc. I've tried bleeding them with both the key on and off and still I get air. Is it possible to have this much air in the system as we bled them for a couple of hours with very little success? I do know that my acumulator is almost shot because I've been getting the "tell tale" flashing amber and red ABS/brake lights...but could I be getting air back in the system from somewhere? I did notice when we first started this whole fiasco that when I loosened the bleeder I would hear a short "hiss" before I felt air come out. I tried to correct this by holding my finger over the bleeder until I felt the vaccum go away. What am I missing and should I just try to bleed the whole system (right rear, left rear, right front, left front)? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated...PLEASE HELP... :confused:
 
Couple of tips which should help you.
1. For the front brakes, don't turn the key to on. That is only needed for the rear brakes.
2. Open the bleeder valve up only a slight bit. Air can seep around the threads if its too far open.
3. When your assistant is pressing on the pedal.. be sure that you close off the valve before it reachs bottom. have them push slowly.
4. Run a clear 1/4" plastic tube from the bleeder valve into a jar with the tube submerged into a 1/2" or more of brake fluid. Dirty brake fluid is fine.
5. Use this tube to watch the fluid as it comes out and keep up the process until you see no air bubbles on 3 consecutive pedal presses.
6. Dont' forget to keep fluid in the reservior topped off occasionally.
7. In the future, cap off the lines with plastic bags and rubber bands to keep as much air out as you can when working on the brakes.. remember air rises in a liquid, so however much air get in, it will want to travel to the top which means more work to get it pushed back out. This sounds like what happened to your lines.

:cool: Hope this helps :cool:
 
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Once Again...please Help...please...anyone

:confused: Thanks for the advice, but it doesn't seem that any of that is my REAL problem here. I went more in depth in my bleeding and all today and this is what I found. I tried to bleed the caliper and got nothing, so I cracked the line loose at the chassis and still got nothing. It seems like the only air I was getting before was what I had been pulling back into the system when I didn't have a clear plastic tube on the bleeder submerged in brake fluid. Then I went up to the assembly and cracked the line open up there and tried bleeding it there and got VERY little fluid. I then went as far as to pull the whole ABS unit out and take it apart and see if there was anything in there that could be causing what I've got going on (good brakes at my passenger front and NO BRAKES at my driver's front). That venture was about as useless as it could have been. I ran some brake parts cleaner through the solenoid block and got good flow. I carefully blew it out with my airhose to make sure I got out as much of it as possible. Then I put it all back together and then back on the car and tried it all over again starting at the solenoid block and working my way back to the wheel caliper and still nothing...ANYWHERE. My guess is going to have to be that I've got a bad solenoid somewhere in there. My next question is...am I right in this assumption and if so where can I find a reasonable inexpensive one by itself OR do I have to just bite the bullet and try to find a way to pay for the entire unit? Oh yeah, and I had good flow from the other two of the three lines coming out of the soleniod block. Again, thanks...
 
When a brake unit is completely dry, it is a royal pain to get the air out of it. Be sure to do what is commonly referred to as "bench bleeding" before hooking up the lines and bleeding the calipers. There should be a kit at the parts stores that basically runs the output fittings right back up and into the reservoir. You hook them up and pump the pedal a bunch of times and then hook up the actual lines and bleed the calipers from there. You can do this with it in the car, doesn't have to be a bench.

If you do find out that the main cylinder is leaking, you can possibly pick up a used one from one of the sellers here or on ebay.
 
Testing SVB

Okay, so I've got a line on a complete ABS Assy that the seller says is good for a real good price. I also checked out my SVB measuring resistance at the 7 pin connector and this is what I found (If I've got the pinouts right):
7-1(RH Front Inlet)=5.8 ohms
7-2(RH Front Outlet)=3.7 ohms
7-3=(Rear Inlet)5.8 ohms
7-5(LH Front Outlet)=3.8 ohms
7-6(LH Front Inlet)=6.0 ohms

all of these readings per Duffy Floyd's article (http://www.35ththunderbirdregistry.org/Tips/ABS.htm) on the TEVES II unit were supposed to read between 5-8 ohms. So it looks like it's time for a new SVB, right? As far as bench bleeding, is there any other way to get all of the air out of the system w/o getting the kit?
 
Im having problems with my brake system. I have a hard pedal, and both brake lights are on and stay on. Im sure that the system is not charged. I replaced the accumlator. Im sure that the brake relay needs replaced, but i dont know where that is located(somewhere on the passenger side engine bay).

Can someone help me?? :confused:
 
The ABS pump relay is located...

Up by the firewall near where the EEC test port (and the ABS test port) are located. If the relay is original stock, it will be dark brown in color and have a label that reads ABS pump relay. An aftermarket replacement is the GP Sorensen MR120 relay available at most parts houses. If this doesn't correct the problem it is either a bad pressure sensor/switch, or the hydraulic pump is dead. Hopefully it is just a stuck relay...
 
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