brake failure

[ghostrider455]

i am new to the turbo buicks, just had the brakes fail on my '87 regal limited fail last night on the way home from a local show. the brake light came on, there was no pedal pressure and a noticed a burning electrical sort of smell, we managed to make it home without incident. i haven't seen this kind of brake setup before, but i'm guessing the electric motor portion off setup took a dump??? any ideas??? wondering if the components are available individually or if a complete rebuilt master assembly would need to be purchased?

thanks,
john
715-498-4900

 

[HelloBozos]

You just experienced the Factory defect re-call on all GN's with the Brake Accumulator

I had it happen to me to back in the 80's,what you smelt was brake fluid on your exhaust

You'll have to replace it with the re-call part an maybe get a remanufactured brake unit, there pricey,most just op for the Vacuum Brake Conversion kit.

 

[ghostrider455]

You just experienced the Factory defect re-call on all GN's with the Brake Accumulator

I had it happen to me to back in the 80's,what you smelt was brake fluid on your exhaust

You'll have to replace it with the re-call part an maybe get a remanufactured brake unit, there pricey,most just op for the Vacuum Brake Conversion kit.

there was a recall on these for the powermaster unit? do i have any way of knowing if this car was ever done in the recall??? as i didn't see any stickers on the radiator support to say its been done, as the car is super original except for a k&n filter.

 

[chopped39]

That recall is long gone. Go vacuum or hydroboost. Mine failed on me when a guy through a u-turn in front of me

 

[Nick Micale]

You just experienced the Factory defect re-call on all GN's with the Brake Accumulator

I had it happen to me to back in the 80's,what you smelt was brake fluid on your exhaust.

The ONLY brake recall on 1987 turbo Regals was the black brake switch on top of the Powermaster, there never was a recall on the accumulator itself. If the switch is grey, it is not original.

A factory recall is always in effect no matter who owns the car, or how old it is. Any dealer can do a VIN check to see if the vehicle recall has been done or not.

My original 1987 still has an open recall as I replaced the switch my self since it was only $9 then!

 

[Chuck Leeper]

And, the smell could well have been the motor....

 

[HelloBozos]

The ONLY brake recall on 1987 turbo Regals was the black brake switch on top of the Powermaster, there never was a recall on the accumulator itself. If the switch is grey, it is not original.

A factory recall is always in effect no matter who owns the car, or how old it is. Any dealer can do a VIN check to see if the vehicle recall has been done or not.

My original 1987 still has an open recall as I replaced the switch my self since it was only $9 then!

Thats it, i had mine done too back in the day for free,(10 year unlimited milage warrenty),when the electric motor died 4 years ago in 08' with about 120,000 mile on it, there was only 3 Factory Original units left in detroit,rest are remanufatored now,I went the vacume conversion kit now,works for the Turbo T/A's

Enjoy!

 

[wiseman]

My powermaster unit was starting to go out a couple weeks ago. The accumulator ball was bad. A replacement ball was close to $200 and I am pretty sure that the motor would eventually go too. I called around everyone was either out of stock or wanted $700 for a rebuilt unit.

I went to NAPA auto parts and they sent my unit off to cardone to have it rebuilt. It totalled $540 with taxes. I just got it back on Monday and will install it this weekend. It took about 4wks to recieve it back, but it looks pretty good. You can also send it to cardone directly through their website. I used a parts store, because i got a lifetime guarantee on it. No more dollars out of my pocket if it begins to go out.

 

["Turbo-T"]

In addition to a defective accumulator ball and/or the pressure switch gone bad on top, another possibility is the 30 amp fuse blew, causing the pump motor not to work. Supposedly this is caused when the seals inside the pump motor allow brake fluid to enter.

As others have said, if you value your life and your car, you are wise to pull that powermaster off your car and replace it with either a vacuum set up or a hydroboost set up.