Ok so my 1994 Camaro Z28 had the engine replaced in March. The last thing the mechanic did, and was having problems with, was getting the brakes to work properly. Since then, upon first starting the car with the idle high, the brakes just don't feel right. And when it rains. It's with the mechanic now and I'm told I have no rear brakes, that it needs to be hooked up to a scanner and have the solenoids actuated to have them bled, OR it's the ABS unit itself.

Any thoughts??

 

were the brakes pulsating or other things on there own when you put the brakes on? does sorta sound like the abs box may be failing or have some issues in the wiring or sensors.

 

No, nothing, they just don't feel very tight. The best description I can think of is squishy...I spoke to him today and he said that only the dealer has the computer to bleed the ABS and it's either air in the line or the ABS unit itself. My thoughts are that the brakes were working fine before the engine change and the previous mechanic told me he was having trouble bleeding out the brakes. He worked on it for hours and I have taken it back on two other occasions. One time to be told I have a leak, which the new mechanic has said that is not the case. Is that correct? That only the dealer will have this technology?

 

yep only a few non dealers will have the abs machine.

 

Do you have to have the special ABS computer interface to properly bleed the brakes on these cars? I would really hate to take mine to a dealer for something that I normally do myself in my driveway.

 

If there was an ABS code set, and someone attempted to bleed the brakes, the system would retain air regardless of the effort. The ABS mechanism has to be reset to the normal state in order to bleed the brakes properly. This requires a bidirectiona ABS scanner that is capable of resetting the mechanism.

 

i blead mine a little at a time with the key off with no issues.

 

I undertand, but did you have an ABS code set when you did it?

 

nope it sure made me nervious though.

 

The older systems need to have the Tech II hooked up for bleeding. They changed this with the 98+ cars. The 98+ cars can be bleed with out hooking up the Tech II but you have to keep the power off or you can set the ABS MIL which may need a tech II to recover from.

Massey