1960lespaul

New Vette owner but really not too impressed with the brakes when compared to my SRT8 but the Vette is such a cool car. So I have been driving it as a daily driver the last 4 days and today a problem arose.

Drove it most of the day without issue and towards the end of the day I am headed to dinner and I start to hear a sssshhhhh sound when I depress the brake pedal. And also while holding down the pedal after stop I still hear it and the pedal is stiff. So I leave dinner and this time I dont have the air on. I still hear the ssssshhhh sound upon my initial press of the pedal but it goes away while I hold it down and the pedal feels much better. Turned the air on and the problem gets worse. sssssshhhhh noise all the time and hard pedal.

Vacuum issue maybe? Serpentine belt? One other odd thing. Got on it earlier today and I felt the accelerator pedal leave my foot and then smack back up when shifting hard into another gear. I have felt this at slow speeds as well when traveling over a rough road.

Any ideas?

Phat98

What year Vette? The accelerator pedal doing that means your ASR is working...or at least trying to.

1960lespaul

Sorry bout that. It is a 94. Would make me feel a lot better if that is what it is supposed to do but it feels weird.

92ragtop

Regarding the sshhhh noise, it's very likely that your brake booster has developed a crack. Tons of threads on that topic. However, check other vac lines first for obvious splits or breaks in those.

RollaMo-LT4

Most certainly a vacuum issue. You have a leak in the power brake system. Either a cracked booster diaphragm, or a leaking vacuum line between the engine and diaphragm.
Serpentine belt is not part of this problem.

That is also what is causing your "hard pedal", and poor brake performance.

Granted, technology has come a long way from 1994 to your SRT8 braking performance.
But when your system is working as designed, your brakes should perform very well.
They just won't have the fade resistance of some of the newer systems.

As mentioned, the accelerator pedal did what it is supposed to do when ASR activates. It will do this when you "get on it" enough to begin losing traction on the rear tires.

1960lespaul

I was guessing it was a vacuum issue but I am not that good at diagnosing so it was exactly that. A best guess. I also guessed belts only because I guessed maybe the air being on drew it down lol. Thank you all for your comments. And I feel a ton better about the pedal deal. I will get out tonight and look for issues.

383vett

Use a Mytivac and apply vacuum to the booster (it'll take a number of pumps because of the volume). Most likely it won't hold vacuum. Usually a crack or split in the diaphram.

pcolt94

You probably would not get a whoosh if you did not have vacuum.

Sounds like a classic booster probelm.

89dd

Same thing happend on my Blazer The check valve on the booster had cracked.

jmgtp

My 94 had hard brakes until I replaced the booster. They're plastic and heat/time get to them. Like others have mentioned, check vacuum hoses first but my money is on a ruptured brake booster. Once you correct the problem the braking performance will be worlds better.

You an turn the ASR off. There's a button near the headlight switch that looks like a Vette laying down some rubber. Press it, the ASR OFF light should illuminate and the pedal won't kick back at you anymore when the tires break loose.