Just bought this Electra at an auction a mere 2700 miles away (I'll post about the damage it suffered being shipped later on ) I know it's been sitting for quite some time, yet everything works. Brakes felt great, fluid level was fine. Drove it around the hilly neighborhood. No issues. Went to get Gas and get the oil changed, and in some stop and go traffic. and going about 50 MPH, the brake light came on, and I noticed a smell, and the car was slowing down. Pulled into a residential street. Smoke was billowing from under both front fenders, yikes! Never had that happen before. So...I shut it off. Touched the hubcaps, warm, but not crazy warm. Checked brake fluid level, just fine. Called service station to say I was going to be late. Waited a half hour, tried to back up, and...no way. Couldn't move forward either. Now the hubcaps are super hot. So, call AAA to have the car towed to service station (this was Friday around 2 PM) Long story short there AAA gave a 3:45 arrival time, had to wait til after 7! (2 people came by to see if I was alright, both said AAA takes forever nowadays, one guy said it had to wait 10 hours!) so....couldn't have it towed to service station, had to taken back to my house. I have never messed with brakes before but the guy that has done our brakes for 20+ years retired...not sure where to go...or what is wrong with these. Whats odd to me, is that I can now move the car around from one side of the driveway to the other, and the brakes act like, what brake problem? Never had the pedal pulse, or drop or feel hard. Brake light is still on....I've been watching videos , read a bit on the web, but issues like frozen calipers, or sliding pins don't seem to me to be the issue (no pulling to one side, and like I said above, smoke came out from both sides up front) Could really old fluid cause this issue? Rubber brake lines just being bad everywhere? Just clueless right now...any suggestions? thanks!
The brake light comes on when there is a pressure differential between the front and rear hydraulics. It sounds to me like a master cylinder problem, it may have gotten stuck internally. Brake fluid absorbs water, components rust internally. It's possible. If it was a stuck caliper, it wouldn't affect both sides. I would replace the master cylinder and carefully inspect all the front brake components. I would replace everything if it was me.
First thing I would do is lose both bleeders on the calipers and see if the brakes free up. If they do, it's likely a brake hose. If they don't, its in the caliper. If the master is the issue, you should be able to release the pressure by cracking the lines at the master. Just keep working your way up.
And when water gets absorbed by brake fluid, it migrates to the lowest point of the system. So it wouldn't surprise me that both pistons got stuck in thier bores
Brake hoses can deteriorate or collapse internally; they’ll allow fluid under pressure to pass (applying the brakes) but don’t allow full release when the pressure stops (they’ll act like a check valve). They’ll bleed down over time. My money’s on hoses, although the whole system’s probably compromised. Patrick
I agree. Car needs all 4 wheels pulled and a thorough examination of all the brake components needs to be done. I bet the rear wheel cylinders are not long for this world either
X2. If you do it all yourself, it isn't that expensive. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/buick,1976,electra,7.5l+455cid+v8,1430019,brake+&+wheel+hub
thanks Larry! That makes sense, and wasn't getting a good reason , that I could find in the 77 Buick book (have just ordered one for this 76 Buick) Until I sell my Regal, I am fairly overextended. I watched some more youtube videos and felt a bit more comfortable at least checking out some of the system, went to pull a wheel off and....found someone hating life put the air impact wrench each lug nut forever....sigh....like I mentioned above, would gladly go to brake/alignment guy I've used forever , he did great work, and didn't charge excessively. The thought of going to someone I don't know, who can basically tell me anything at this point(while it's apart) is not a good one. Edit: before it started to rain, siphoned off some brake fluid. Seems a bit "rusty" in color, not black though, which I saw a fair bit of on youtube vids.
sadly, I have very little info on this car no car paperwork at all.(of course it came with power of attorney paperwork and death certificates for the husband and wife ) most recent oil change info on the door was 2013. Plates were from 1998! But, battery that I replaced was from 2016. Clearly inside, as the top and door rubber are in excellent condition. I'd probably say the booster and master cylinder look as good as or even better than my 1977 Regal, and it had those replaced in 2018
People have already commented on what needs to be checked. Bottom line if you know the car has been sitting a very long time you really need to inspect everything in the brake system. Time and moisture can mess things up. My money is on deteriorated brake hoses but only an inspection will tell what happened. I'd strongly recommend the old brake fluid be flushed out with new fluid regardless of what caused your problem (along with the trans fluid and the differential fluid).
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to replace everything. Cheap insurance if you ask me. Just don’t go cheap on the master cylinder. LOL
Ok, I think when I was checking old posts, folks said to get ONLY a new Master Cylinder, and yet someone that's pretty sharp told my Dad that the reason reman Master Cylinders are more expensive, is they aren't made in China.
Master cylinders are not expensive period. Have a look, https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...430019,brake+&+wheel+hub,master+cylinder,1836 The remanufactured one is near the bottom price wise. It has a core charge.
ok, that is really weird! I checked NAPA, and they have the Reman ones for more than new...but, I checked O'Reillys , Advance, and autozone, (and Rockauto) all are cheaper for the Reman ones
