Hey people.... just took the 93 out for a shakedown cruse fresh from the mechanics garage... got back around my house an hour ago.... went on a blunt run and LOST ALL BRAKE POWER!!!! Im totaly spent... everything (and I do mean everything) went into gettin the bearings and brakes done... where should I be looking first? Btw besides the brakes she glides down the road....

Did you break in the new pads properly? You may have glazed them by overheating.

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2000 SSEi - SilverBullet - 78,000 kms, 4" "straight shot" custom headlight ram air inlet, TOGs, 1.9's, Lsd, 2.9-3.4"MPS 10-15 psi, Ported GenV, EGR eliminated, OR pushrods, oil volume kit, trani cooler & shift kit, Titanium retainers, 90 lb springs, 160 Stat, 42# injectors, Fuel pump voltage increase, Wideband O2, 3" to dual 2 1/2" Magnaflows, Snow Meth/water injection, after SC temp gauge, 255/50WR17, timing commander set 15-18*@WOT, 2 speed Fan over-ride, disabled DRL, Solid motor mount, Meziere Electric water pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, Drilled & slotted rotors/ceramics, GXP sway bars and STB, Upgraded and rebuilt transmission with ZZP 2500 rpm stall TC, Pioneer Bluetooth stereo with sub and 800 W amps, PB 13.5 quarter, (April 2014 car of the month)

How's the fluid level? Can you see if any of the lines are leaking behind the wheels?

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Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Some work was just done... its raining at the moment so I can't tell until the morning. I called my friend who did the work, he's gunna pick it up in the am. It just sucks, you guys have no clue what geat lenghts I've gone to save this old girl from the bone yard. One hour of complete bliss.... if only for an hour rotfl

Ok, First, when you say "Lost All Brake Power", do you mean: 1.) The pedal goes all the way to the floor without slowing the car down or 2.) The brake pedal take a lot of effort to get the car to slow down.

Couple of thoughts beyond pads and leaks. Check the vac line from the booster to the engine (if the pedal is hard to push down, then you may not be getting any help from the vacuum of the engine.)

Did the mechanic bleed the whole system properly. If you can't find any leaks (and they would be very noticable) there may be a big air bubble, or multiple ones in the brake lines. This is where the pedal goes all the way to the floor and nothing happens. You should also get a brake warning light on the dash coming from the proportioning valve that divy's up the brake pressure from the master cylinder.

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Bye Bye 1990 Bonneville LE... Now it belongs to my daughter
In the Garage: 2009 Subaru Outback, 1987 Camaro, 2006 SV650S, 1995 Regal 182 "ASANAGI", 1962 Ford Galaxie 500, 1995 Ford F150 XL 4WD, 1953 Farmall Cub

1. Brake pedal is completely down to the floor.

Also my guy noticed that my abs sensor wires were cut... I don't know to what extent... he told me not a big deal? So the abs and back red brake warning lights are lit.

It felt like I could push the pedal down further..... then I heard a pop and no brakes at all. There was a car turning ahead at a 3 way stop crossing. Somehow I was able to pop the curb and turn the corner... scary

Do not let your mechanic friend touch your car ever again. Its pretty obvious that he doesn't know how to properly do brakes.

Check in the morning to see where all that fluid went.

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Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

All fluid is there... no broken lines... no puddles. I drove it back to my house.. Brakes feel weak but it stops...so im guessin it needs to be blead again? What's the proper way guys?

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1998 3.8 Dodge Caravan 214K
2000 3.3 Dodge Caravan 175K
1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe 4-dr sedan 25K (needs some work!)

I think I've isolated the problem... rear drums... they locked up today at a stop light. I will attempt a bleeding session tomorrow after work.

Umm..if the rear brakes drums locked up, then the problem is probably in the front disk brakes.

You see, the drum brakes take less fluid pressure & volume to make them work (the pistons that operate the brake shoes is much smaller than the pistons in the front disk calipers.)

Up in the front of the car, the master cylinder looks like a single piston, but is actually two pistons in line with each other. You'll see on the master cylinder that there are two steel tubes coming out of it, one near the end, and another closer to the vac booster (about the middle of the master cylinder casting.) The one near the end of the brake master cylinder operates the rear brakes, and the one close to the vac booster end works the front brakes.

Below the master cylinder is a distribution/proportioning valve. It's job is to meter the fluid to the rear brakes so that they receive less pressure and volume than the front brakes. It also has the electrical switch on it that activates the brake warning light if part of the brake system fails. The valve is not adjustable, which is OK because it never fails. The bias front to rear on the car never changes unless the car's brake system is modified (like changing the rear brakes from drum type to disks.)

With that said, the rear brakes are supposed to be applied with less stopping force than the front brakes. GM built the system to do this automatically. The ratio of front to rear brake pressure is designed into the system and is supposed to keep the rear brakes from locking up.

So, if you come up to a stop and the rear drum brakes are locking up it is because they are working normally and the front brakes are not supplying enough braking force. (Front Brakes stop the car, Rear brakes keep the car from turning sideways while stopping.)

The erratic braking you are getting is sounding more like air in the lines by the second. Bleed the rear drums anyways, though you may not see any air bubbles back there. (It's good to do just to make sure you have fresh fluid all the way back to the rear brakes.) Then concentrate on the front calipers, which is probably where the real problem is.

I would also check the caliper mounting bolts. The calipers should float on two pins so they can center themselves on the rotors as the pads wear down. If they are stuck in place, the caliper piston take a lot of movement before the pads even touch the rotor. That could have been the loud pop you heard just when you lost brakes.

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Bye Bye 1990 Bonneville LE... Now it belongs to my daughter
In the Garage: 2009 Subaru Outback, 1987 Camaro, 2006 SV650S, 1995 Regal 182 "ASANAGI", 1962 Ford Galaxie 500, 1995 Ford F150 XL 4WD, 1953 Farmall Cub

This happened to me. My break line burst right underneath the drivers side. Check your lines.

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