Ryan Thompson

I have my motor pulled and am waiting on the new/used motor to arrive. When I drove my car the brake booster was weak. Not sure if this was due to a vacuum line or the booster. I understand the only way to change the booster is with the motor out.

Looking for the collective wisdom on this site.

How often do boosters fail?

Brakes work well with more pedal pressure. Pads look brand new on all four corners.

Ryan Thompson

Here is a picture of my booster, because posts are better with pictures.

hacker-pschorr

What year? Rob can probably tell the VIN number and options from this photo, most of us need more details

For starters, boosters can be pulled with the engine in the car, it's not easy (I pulled mine on the 80 recently). The 10" boosters on the 32V cars are every trickier....but it's doable.

This sounds similar to my 80 when I bought it. Brakes worked great just took a lot of pressure. I swapped in a known good booster a friend had on the shelf, worked great.

My plan (since he wants it back) is to have the booster & master rebuilt by White Post Restorations. At the same time, plan on upgrading all four rubber brake hoses.

When it's all said and done, you will have 100% brand new brakes, good for another 30-40 years!

Side note, I also took the time to take apart and replace all the seals on the calipers.


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Ryan Thompson

Sorry 1985 us car

z driver 88t

When I had my engine out i did a ton of WYAT stuff and its always a challenge trying to figure out where to stop.

The only thing I did not replace that I wish I had was the brake booster and master cylinder. Mine are fine, and may be fine for years to come. But they are so easy to get to with the engine out and such a PITA with the engine in the car - I just would like the security of knowing it would be good for another 30+ years.

Couple other things to consider are the coolant overflow tank and the windshield washer motor. Both of those are very easy while the engine is out, and a total pain when the engine is in.

FWIW I did have a booster fail on my old Turbo Z. It was pretty scary because it failed all at once while coming to an intersection. No power assist at all. Since I was not expecting it i did not apply adequate brake pressure and I sailed right through the intersection. Very lucky there no one coming.