Car sat for 10 years. Brakes don’t work well.

[Zachary]

I have a 1991 Camaro RS 305 automatic,it has disks in the front and drums in the back. The car sat for 10 years without running,and I’ve got it running a couple months ago.

Now,obviously there are issues with the car after sitting for so long. One of the main issues is the brakes don’t work well. I have to push the pedal to the floor to get any kind of braking ability. Last month I saw the master cylinder was leaking,so I replaced it. Seeing as there wasn’t anymore leaks,I figured that would fix. It didn’t. I did follow proper bench bleeding procedure for it. I then bled at all four wheels until there weren’t anymore bubbles,in the correct order. I had my dad take the car out to see what he thinks. He got the brakes hot doing several hard stops. He said there seems to be plenty of pressure going to the wheels,and that it seems like the brakes are slipping. He was NEVER able to lock the tires up,and keep in mind this has no ABS. Something I’ve noticed is when I apply the parking brake it comes up about 5-7 clicks (I gotta really rip up on it to get 7) and the car will roll a couple inches in park. It does struggle,but it shouldn’t be rolling on such a mild incline. I had the car taken in to see what a “professional” thought. He said,and I quote. “The engine isn’t pulling a proper vacuum which is causing the power brakes to not work.” I’ve gotten the car back,and I fixed that vacuum leak,and they haven’t improved one bit. On the upside with me fixing that leak the idle doesn’t fluctuate anymore,so I know I’ve gotten them all. I inspected all the vacuum lines,and they look fine. The guy clearly had no idea what he was doing. I have no idea what the problem can be.

Topic

[dan]

you probably have a number of issues, there might be a lot of issues with that car considering how long it sat without being driven, there might be a lot of moisture in the lines, you may have seized up break calipers or wheel cylinders, a multitude of issues, i would jack the car up and safely put it on stands, test your break calipers, wheel cylinders, flush your break fluid and put some new approved break fluid in.

[Jim Davis]

As Ace said, you need to check the calipers and the rear brake cylinders and make sure they are working, as well as on the calipers checking to make sure the slides, pins are free, the calipers themselves are not stuck, on the rear, make sure the shoes are adjusted out, and all your hardware is intact. You fixed the vacuum leak, are you sure the booster is getting good vacuum?

[Brian]

The above advice is very sound. I would say also to replace the rear wheel cylinders, since when you try to flush fluid hru them, the.bleeder screw will no doubt snap off. Cheap parts, and you can see some of Eric’s tips on how he lives specific parts in the drums to make certain they move well.
Also, gm cars with drym brakes if that era, if I’m not mistaken, self adjust when you brake hard while reversing. That means, back up at 15-20mph when its safe with lots of room, then slam on the brakes as hard as possible. There should be an audible clicking or ratcheting sound if it works right. Lots of cars with hand brakes use that engaging and disengaging to adjust the rear brakes, but understand if you pull that cable too hard, it may snap due to rust. You might want to just buy a new ebrake cable too as a.precaution.

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