Brake question..

[Adrian87]

Weird brakes...80% of the time my brake light is on and I have no power assist in the brakes, but every once in a while after I drive for a few miles the brake light goes off and I have power assist again..just wondering if there is a fix for this besides converting to vacuum brakes...does this mean my Powermaster is trashed or maybe a small fix? It already has the gray connector instead of the black one under the hood...thanks

 

[MistaScott]

Accumulator most likely. It costs about $100 and with the way remanufactured Powermaster units have flown upwards in price, vacuum conversion is becoming the best alternative.

 

[kh440]

Just had the same problem, replaced accumulator and everything is fine again. GM part # is 18038507 and still available.

 

[Adrian87]

Thanks...how much was it and which part is the accumulator anyway?

 

[Ormand]

The accumulator is the round ball on the side of the powermaster. It is pressurized with nitrogen. There are two part numbers, one is expensive, one is slightly smaller, and much cheaper. I think the cheap one is 18038506, available from GMpartsdirect for less than $50.

 

[kh440]

One thing that is MANDATORY before you do this though: depressurize the brake system. Pump the pedal 10-15 times with the ignition off before you remove the accumulator. To replace takes all of five minutes with only an opened end wrench (18mm? 5/8? I already forgot) but pump that pedal first!!!!