Electronic vacuum pump for our Vac Brakes

[jdpolzin]

My buddy and I were taking last night about our brakes and brought up the mid 80's diesel Oldsmobiles that were equiped with an electronic vacuum pump for the brakes. Anybody tried one of these?? We thought about running 2 of them inline with each other with a switch incase one fails. Sounds like an awesome idea to me and we'll always have full vacuum to our brakes. I think this may be the solution to all brake problems. What do you guys think? ------Jeremy

 

[jdpolzin]

Nobody ever try this???

 

[white88montess]

honestly to me ....your idea sounds not just plausible but very possible...and its gr8 that you had safety first cause when i just read the thread topic i was like ok what if it goes out but the second one would take that so...gr8 thinking on your part...

 

[jdpolzin]

Actually this thinking is the geniousness of RapidoV6. He's a fantastic mechanic and I think that is a fantastic idea. Really if the pump fails, you would basically just have manual brakes but it's just a safer feeling to have the two pumps. The nice thing would be the ability to have full vacuum for us lumpy cam guys. And there would be no need to build vacuum just before holding at the line. You would have full vacuum all the time. I personally think this is the most feasable answer to all of our brake problems. Lets here some more opinions?

 

[white88montess]

i doubt you will get many views here....your best bet is to go where the people are....so put this in "general buick tech..." everyone will see it then....hth

 

[Brer Rabbit]

Hey Jeremy

Im no brake expert as we all know---I kind of like the pedal just to the right of the brake pedal, but anyway, what are the vacum brake canisters for? I was told years ago that big cammed motors that dont make very lil vacum would run these and they worked fine.

 

[BadAssGN]

Well...

My take on this is,

while the electric vac pump is ok, Why not just store some reserve Vaccum?
Summit and Jegs both sell Vac canistors that will store the Vaccum you create on decelleration, most times up to 20 inches of Vaccum, that way you have enough for a few applications of the pedal,

and for a faster car requiring more brake pressure, I understand the TTA vac boosters are dual diaphram and increase the application pressure greatly.

I saw an article on this in GMHTP once

 

[Hot Air]

I tried to find an electric vacuum pump several years ago but failed to find anything for a reasonable price. All the GM P/N's that I have run upon are all discontinued.
Conrad

ps...I went back to my 84's hydroboost and love it!

 

[jdpolzin]

How large is the vacuum canister? Would it be easy to find a place to stash it?

 

[Scott Atk]

Something like this? I got this a few years ago with the intentions of using it and never did. Works great... anybody wanna make an offer?

 

[jdpolzin]

How does the wiring work?

 

[Scott Atk]

It's straight up 12V DC. Wire it however you want. It's a GM pump. Althought I'm not sure if it was used continuous duty of not? Came off a Cadillac.

 

[Tom Walker]

someone told me that they got one from a late model ('02-'06) trailblazer.

 

[Tin Man]

I couldnt be happier with my hydroboost conversion. I had the powermaster - it failed. I converted to vacuum - not enough vacuum. I converted to a hydroboost unit from a 95 Astro Van. It is todays technology (GM uses them on new turbo diesel trucks, hummers, etc. Ford is using them on some of the mustangs). I wondered how much boost I could build on the footbrake. I sat in the driveway and at about 17lbs my forward drum sheered off completely. The car wasnt budging one bit. Jakeshoe has a post of the carnage in the trans section.

If you worry about failure, the hydroboost units have a nitrogen reserve.

 

[GNVYUS 1]

I have a Cadillac pump on my GTO, it is only going to help out if your cam is not creating enough vacuum for your booster to safely stop with.

It is not going to create a mega drum holding brake system for high psi launches.

If your GN needs that pump you must have a HUGE cam in it. If you have a properly functioning vacuum brake set up then just get a trans brake for high psi launches.

 

[headstrong3157]

Here is the link to the set-up I had on my Grand National that I sold.

Master Power Brakes - VACUUM PUMP KIT, HEAVY DUTY

Very nice and easy to install and the vacuum switch allows it to come on when its needed. Hope it helps.

 

[Hot Air]

Dr Booster,
Do you have a P/N for the Caddy vac pump? Price? Is it still available from GM?
Conrad

 

[Scott Atk]

The picture that I posted above is the Cadillac pump.

 

[GNVYUS 1]

I won't see the GTO until Sunday so probably Scott can help you out on this one much sooner.

I got it for $225 back around 2000 and I could have sworn someone got one recently on one of the boards for $350. Might want to check out gmpartsdirect.com and see what turns up when you get the part #.

 

[S10xGN]

Well...

My take on this is,

while the electric vac pump is ok, Why not just store some reserve Vaccum?
Summit and Jegs both sell Vac canistors that will store the Vaccum you create on decelleration, most times up to 20 inches of Vaccum, that way you have enough for a few applications of the pedal, ...

Did this in my GN truck swap, works GREAT! Never had a braking problem at all. Cannister is on the LH inner fender and is tee'd into the vacuum booster line. Still shows vacuum a day after driving!