powermaster issues

[jim homick]

hi. my son just bought a 1986 g.n. i drove it home, approx 200 miles. no issues with the brakes. its been sitting for about a month. yesterday he took it for a drive. the brake light came on, followed by a hard pedal and practically no brakes. he limped it home. the m/c seems to be overfilled and sprayed under the hood. the powermaster itself doesnt seem to come on and the fuse is good and its getting 12 volts. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance, jim

 

[FreeBoost]

hi. my son just bought a 1986 g.n. i drove it home, approx 200 miles. no issues with the brakes. its been sitting for about a month. yesterday he took it for a drive. the brake light came on, followed by a hard pedal and practically no brakes. he limped it home. the m/c seems to be overfilled and sprayed under the hood. the powermaster itself doesnt seem to come on and the fuse is good and its getting 12 volts. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance, jim

Sounds like the presure switch on the top of the PM unit failed. These were recalled years ago. Look at Brake System for diagnostics.

 

[POWERBRAKEBOB]

Hydroboost conversion

The Powermaster has/had a lot of problems. It's either the accumulator, switch, or usually a worn out/shorted out motor. The pump has phenoloic vanes which wear out quickly. If the seal between the pump and the windings leaks, it will flood the motor with brake fluid, and short it out, or the fuse. The problem with all of that, is that it is a continuous replacing of hard to find parts. We recommend converting it to the Hydroboost power brake system. These are new units, that are reliable, and come with a 1 year warranty. The braking is superior to the Powermaster. Hydroboosts can last up to 200,000 miles, and are still rebuildable then. The master cyl is replaceable easily at any time. The improvement in braking is dramatic. Read some of the posts from those who have tried it.

 

[Gary Wells]

Might want to consider doing a search;
HTH

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/br...ompany-hydroboost-newfangled-powermaster.html

 

[zeus87gn]

Run the diagnostics if you can.
If the motor doesn't come on, you will need to get out the DMM and the wiring diagram to find out what's going on.

 

["More Boost"]

hi. my son just bought a 1986 g.n. i drove it home, approx 200 miles. no issues with the brakes. its been sitting for about a month. yesterday he took it for a drive. the brake light came on, followed by a hard pedal and practically no brakes. he limped it home. the m/c seems to be overfilled and sprayed under the hood. the powermaster itself doesnt seem to come on and the fuse is good and its getting 12 volts. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance, jim

jim,
let me know what you've found out on your sons regal, mine has suddenly exibited the exact same attributes.

 

[POWERBRAKEBOB]

Hydroboost/powermaster/vacuum

That "new fangled" electric booster is being copied in Mexico by those "other guys" along with their rebuilt hydroboosts. When I sued them in 1998, they had no insurance. That elec.unit is patented, trademarked, and owned by the Robert Bosch Corp. It was originally used on 1989-91 Jeeps, but the motor pumps all failed after 4-5 years. Gomez uses either Jeep cores, or now have cast their own in Mexico. The internals are usually taken from cores, and motor pumps can be used, or from something else. The patent still is owned by Bosch, and they are pursuing their patent rights in court.

 

["More Boost"]

brake light is on all the time, when braking fluid spews out m/c lid seal (over full) pedal goes all way to floor before any brakes are applied. i did the cycle thing with the pump, it cycles 3 sec. then shuts off. is my accumulator ball bad? where did all the extra fluid in m/c come from? plz