Really Poor Braking...

[slow91]

I have just recently picked up a '91GL in decent shape as my school commuter and the only real issues were a completely rusted out hatch door (which I was able to find a new rust free one that was the same color for $43 at the local pick-a-part ) and it's poor braking.

I'm lost... the braking in it is just bad. The pedal feel is fine, and the fronts have plenty of life in the pads and rotors. I had it in the shop this morning and we opened up the rears and other than the adjusters being a little frozen, the rears were fine as well. I'm not sure how other to describe it, but you can just stomp on the pedal in an emergency stop situation and the car just doesn't want to stop. Even in normal stopping situations the stopping distance just seems huge. What am I missing here? Where did I forget to look?

[skeeters_keeper]

did you bleed the brakes? Usually really old fluid will give you a softer feel, but perhaps you have a clogged line, master cylinder, proportioning valve, etc. Bleeding them will at least let you see how much fluid is being pushed out at each wheel.


also may have stuck calipers or any of a number of other things... but i think bleeding them would be the place to start and work from there.

[slow91]

Yeah, I'll start there and flush out all the lines and see how things go from there. Like I said though, the pedal isn't really soft at all. If anything it's actually more on the firm side but if you romp on the breaks you can't even lock up the fronts. The car just doesn't want to stop.

[stefan]

vac booster?

[skeeters_keeper]

Yea, if its actually on the firm side i would suspect stefan is probably right... check for vac leaks around the brake booster, if none of the above fix it you may have to replace the booster.

[slow91]

Yea, if its actually on the firm side i would suspect stefan is probably right... check for vac leaks around the brake booster, if none of the above fix it you may have to replace the booster.

I'll get on that first thing tomorrow then Thanks for all the quick answers this forum rocks.

[mattswabb]

All can be good and Festiva brakes still suck. When I drive a different car for a few days then get back into the Festiva with stock brakes it always catches me off guard. The stopping distance is quite a bit longer than every other car on the road.

Look for an aspire parts car and do the aspire swap. 100% improvement.

[skeeters_keeper]

where are you located slow?

i'm sure i could hook you up with an aspire swap but your probably not that close to me, lol.

[Dave G]

Oily pads & shoes? Try putting on new front pads - cheap & easy.

[Unicornasaurus]

All can be good and Festiva brakes still suck. When I drive a different car for a few days then get back into the Festiva with stock brakes it always catches me off guard. The stopping distance is quite a bit longer than every other car on the road.

Look for an aspire parts car and do the aspire swap. 100% improvement.

Actually me and my friend can stop a Festiva going about 60km/h in probably 15-20 feet by putting the clutch in, shifting down to second, then pushing the brake in and letting the clutch out at the same time.

It's amazing how short of distances he's been able to make it stop.

[25Horseplay]

Its possible that the rotors could be glazed not allowing the pads to properly grab. Rubber hoses could be weak and expanding not allowing it to hold pressure either. Just a couple ideas.

[worfdog]

also pads and shoes when glazed will cause a firm pedal but sorry stoping power.

[slow91]

I'm up a bit north of Detroit and this festy has a bit too much rust to want to do anything serious with... the next one though

And as far as the pads and shoes being glazed, we had it up on the hoist and all that was fine when we checked. Thats why I was so confused. I'll check the vac booster first since there is a fair chance that that could be it. I'm just trying to narrow it down so I can fix it as cheaply as possible. This car just needs to last me my last 6 months of school until I graduate and hopefully I can pick up a job pretty quick and find a better one to start and play with.

[scitzz]

An easy check for the power booster, with the engine off, pump up the pedal, then, holding the pedal, start the engine. The pedal should go down some, if not, vac leak in the booster