Brake failure, assist only or all, total, nada, zip, nil

[EDBS0]

When the brakes fail are they totally useless or do you still have brake function if you step on the petal with all your force. I think what I am asking is the failure similar to the power booster failure where you really have to press down to stop or is there absolutely nothing left to even slow you down.<P>Don't want to say that I am nervous because I am very very anxious way beyond nervous, Robert

[Howard]

I'm one of the lucky ones. My car warned my via the CRT and Warning lights that something was wrong while I was backing it out of my driveway. When I parked the car back in the garage, the brake pedal was very hard to press and the car more or less rolled to a stop. I would think that on the street such a failure would be very bad news. During my "garage" stop, I would say I had only 5% of the brakes. Howard

Robert if You want to actually see what it is like if the ABS fails. Unplug the plug that goes to the pump motor on Your unit or pull one of the relays. Pump the system till Your pedal gets hard and then when You have a safe open area try it to see. I am going to let My Wife drive it like that tomorrow as I have not got all My ducks in a row yet to change the system over. Then She will know if She can stop it or not if it fails.

[padgett]

Oh my. Don't forget the "yank back into 1st and pump the parking brake" bit if all else fails. Would prefer to rig a switch (pull the ABS fuse ?) and ride shotgun ready to turn back on quickly.

Sounds like none of you have read ,"Brakes" at reatta.net !<BR> Think I included the distances from actual tests w/ o hydraulic assist there. If not they are in a post. In either case stopping distances from over 55 MPH are in excess of a football field!

Wally has done a lot of research on our brake systems and has posted fluid diagrams. If the boost fails, it appears that only the front brakes actually operate from the master cylinder. The pedal actually modulates the boost pressure itself to operate the rear brakes, that's why you can power bleed them with the boost pump. Couple the lack of rear brakes with a master cylinder that isn't sized properly for non-boosted brakes and it will be almost impossible to stop the car. It is a scary scenario.<P>Barney posted about changing to the 1991 vacuum boosted system (some time ago) and there are other components that need to be relocated as well. I don't remember what they are, but some of the components are actually in the way and the '91 has a different layout under the hood. Anyone that has both the old and newer system could chime in.

to 'Drove it like I stole it' ...<P>whether you have any stopping power or not, depends on what fails. Do a search for some of my other posts ... goodness knows I've had enough failures ...<P>~Brenda<BR>Reatta2go@aol.com

If your brakes fail as mine did in my 88, you will have absolutely no stopping power with your primary braking system. I do not care how big or strong some thinks they are, if the pedal locks, It will not budge.

[EDBS0]

Dan; <BR>Thanks for your personal input, it is appreciated greatly. It is always good to hear directly from someone with firsthand knowledge, Robert