wegozoom

Hi
Mike the newbie in Charlotte, NC here. I am getting to know my 90 C4 AT 2.59 a little better now and thanks to all for answering my initial questions.

The SES light quit tripping and the voltage is still up around almost full scale but not quite in the shaded area. Maybe I had low voltage due to the car sitiing so much over the past 3 years and it being a cold snap here. Maybe my daily drive is starting to charge the battery up a little. i'll know saturday morning when I can get my DVM and find the TRUE voltage on this baby.

Now tell me guys and gals. Surely GM wouldn't give us such dismal brakes on a fine haul butt vehicle like this. If I find deserted road and brake HARD from 45 I don't feel the ABS pulsate until 12mph or so. I have to really stand on the pedal to get it to even activate. I guess the stopping is nearly as short as I would expect from that speed. But at speeds like oh ... 75 (yeah thats it ... 75) when I do a full on hard stop to zero I REALLY HAVE TO STAND ON THE BRAKES to get anything near what I would consider decent braking. I clearly remember how my Javelin would toss you into the windshield in 1976 (it was a 1970 SST) if you braked too hard from 45.

I rarely praise the blue oval camp but my Thunderbird Supercoupe (for sale by the way) stops harder than my Vette. I just don't like how the ABS on it takes over almost immediately and you feel like you are stopping on wake up strips on the edge of the highway.

Now the rotors look OK, but not "PERFECT". They have some grooving deep enough to catch a fingernail on them. The calipers are basically clean and "look" fine. The front pads make dust like nobody's business. They don't seem to fade bad after repeated hard stops, but wow they do stink.

What do you think???

Does this sound like normal vette brakes or are my brakes in bad need of a fluid replacement and power bleeding?

Oh yeah and by the way does anyone else hear a kind of rattly sound from the hood area when using light to moderate throttle around 1400 rpm or so?? it sounds like a loose shield or airbox lid or something.

Speaking of airbx lids, are the 1990 stock airbox lids louvered on their whole upper side?

vader86

probably time to redo the brakes, fluid, pads, maybe rotors-a service to all of them couldnt hurt. If you have to stand on them, you might want to check the booster-could be gone.

I dont know how the 90 airbox is positioned, i know GM went with a slanted radiator around that time. We usually cut a big hole in the filter cover anyway, to expose the K&N air filter.

Tom Piper

When I first got my '92, I was disappointed with the brakes (12" rotors)-- it had a firm pedal, but did not stop as well as I thought it should.

Then, someone pulled directly out in front of me and I almost hit them because I couldn't stop -- my TownCar would have stopped in half the distance at that speed. That's when I decided something had to be done.

I put on the J55 ZR1 brakes (13" rotors). This was quite an improvement, but the pedal effort is still more than I like. However, if you put enough pressure on the pedal, it does stop.

Next, I am going to try the C5 brakes.


Tom Piper


[Modified by Tom Piper, 7:59 AM 3/6/2002]

RocketSled

When I bought my 89, it had brakes. I had no feel for whether they were 'good' or not as I'd never owned a vette before. Went from whatever unknown pads were on there to Brutestops. WHOA! The stopped GREAT but made a lot of noise. (Rattling and squeaking) After a bit, I went and bought some OEM replacements from Ford when Cobra Pads were, like a third the cost of the identical GM part. I _hated_ them. I couldn't get the ABS to engage above about 30 mph or so.

Went to Performance Friction Z pads, SS braided lines, and Ford brake fluid. Now there's zero fade, ABS engages up to about 65mph, and everythings good. (there's some squeaking, but only in cold, light pedal condidtions.) But with the added clamping power and heat generation, I get to do a mid-day brake bleed at the track.

Based on talking to other folks on the list, upgrading the brakes and rotors will get a car that'll lock up the brakes (and thus engage ABS) up in the 90mph range.

Fastguy

Mine feel the same way. I never liked them,my Thunderbird TurboCoupe also stopped better, hell even my F150 stops better!! I;m wondering if I have a bad booster becasue you have to use a TON oif pedal pressure. Anyone know how to test the booster> I have talked to several friends with C4's that have the same problems, hard pedal and not so great brakes. BTW, I have 4 new rotors, new pads and flushed the fluid and bled it a bunch of times.

Black87c4

Brakes suck on my 87

Justin Scherer

Same story here. Brakes were a joke when I got the Vette. Upgraded to 13 inch brakes (with stock pads) and frankly the everyday feel of the brakes did not change much at all. They certainly are more fade resistant (from 135 mph to zero). But they have that same dull feeling that you describe above. The only thing I noticed is that they work well if you get them hot. Do at least one 70 mph to zero stop. Then maybe one more good heatup and now you've got great stopping brakes. Of course, in everyday driving you can't keep them hot and they soon cool off and go back to that dull feel. My 88 Astro van has stronger brakes in everyday driving. My daughter's Neon has insane brakes below triple digits. So what's up with the Vette brakes is a good question. Pedal is firm. Never goes anywhere near the floor. Probably pads are a misfit. Think I'll try some of the advice from others you have gotten on this thread and go for the Brutestops. I don't care about anything except performance. Hell, my B&M rattles like crazy and I don't hear a thing as I'm always concentrating on shifting just b4 it bounces off the rev limiter. So welcome to the bad brakes C4 club !! Now where do I get Brutestops?

Justin
92 6-speed, ripper, gs brakes

bogus

I suspect the problems you all are experiencing is corrosion. the pin that the caliper rides on gets icky. I would bet money that if the pin was pulled, cleaned and re-greased, that the problems would subside.

My brakes always felt great... now, since I upgraded to the GS brakes, it stops on a dime and makes change!

If you are experiencing hard pedal, that may be a bad booster. They are noted for being hard when they start to go bad.

As for your specific problems, zoom, I would say time has been your worst enemy. The booster's internal diaphram may have dryrotted... along with a large part of your brake system. Remember, brake fluid is hydroscopic, it attracts water. Over time, the fluid will loose its ability to do its job.

I would go over the entire brake system... fluids... pads... calipers... everything.

PeteL

My brakes are great! Stock 89. Even with the worn out junk pads I got on the car when I bought it, it stopped well.

Very predictable, easy to modulate, does take some pressure - but not that much.

I can rarely get the ABS to kick in under heavy braking on a clean, dry, smooth surface. Heck, with 285 40 17's I would not expect wheel lock except under extremely hard braking. My old dryed-out tires would lock up, but that rubber was shot.

The important stat is how fast can you stop? Mine is not in the same braking league as a 911 (or even an Audi TT), but it stops pretty good!

Pete