do your brakes require a LOT of pressure?

[Guest Anonymous]

i'm not sure if it's normal in 2002s, but i really gotta stand on the brakes in this car to slow it down. a friend suggested that the front brake hoses could be needing replacement. anything else I should check?

thanks!

obin

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

To check the booster, after the car has sat a while (and has no vacuum), start it with your foot on the brakes. You should feel the pedal go down when the engine provides vacuum to the booster. Maybe rev it a bit (1500), and u should definitely fee the assist drop the brake pedal when maintaining constant pressure on the pedal.

Cheers,

Ray

[Guest Anonymous]

hmm, the brakes feel pretty stiff no matter what. the pedal requires quite a bit of force all the time. i'm, beginning to think it's the booster.

how hard are these to do in the 2002? doesn't look that hard. any tips?

thanks!

obin

[Guest Anonymous]

not so hard i think. IIRC, there may be a rebuild kit available for the booster.

bear in mind the boost on 2002's is not that great anyway. find a straight road and cut the motor at 30mph. pump the brakes, u should notice decreasing boost.*

good luck with it!

Cheers,

Ray

*i'm not responsible for any untoward situations if u follow my instructions! ;-)

[Guest Anonymous]

I had the same problem. A good bleeding reduced the pedal

pressure required to generate reasonable stopping force. Air is

compressible; fluid isn't. You hear mostly about air in lines

making the brake pedal "spongy" feeling, but it seems to me that

when you have air in your lines, you push through the "spongy"

part pretty quickly as you try and stop the car. Then, it takes more

and more pressure to stop, some of which continues to be

absorbed by the air as it compresses further. So, more pedal

pressure is required to stop when you have air in you lines. My

theory, anyway.

All I can say is that my pedal feel and perceived pressure required

to stop improved markedly after a darn good bleeding. Get a

pressure bleeder. Cheap at $40 and the best solution for a good

bleed.

Chris B.

'73 ex-Malaga

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/store/index.html

you might have glazed brake pads... take em out and grind off the face some... check the discs for discoloration too. if your brake hoses *are* clogged, this would cause the brakes to hold pressure and overheat/glaze up. if the hoses are more than 10 years old, might as well replace em with SS lined ones... (talk to ireland) good luck and have fun!!

[Guest Anonymous]

Very stiff pedal. Brake system totally new except booster and check valve. The check valve was reversed. turned it around and I had real brakes.

[Guest Anonymous]

where is the check valve? thanks!

also, it seems like the booster is just plain not working. i really have to stand on the brakes hard to slow the car down fast. it reminds me of old Alfas and race cars i've driven that have plain unassisted brakes. is there a rebuild kit for the booster?

thanks!

obin

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/store/index.html

let me kno.

-Rob

[Guest Anonymous]

the check valve is mounted between the hose, normaly near the intake manifold, that goes to the booster. It could be installed backwards, so take it off and flip it around. If that doesn't work, replace it, or find someone with a working used one. If this doesn't solve the problem, your master could be gone, or you could have a seized caliper, or...the list goes on!

[Guest Anonymous]

ok, might need that spare booster. i am going to take another look at the brake circuit and bleed the brakes.

offhand, do i have to bleed BOTH circuits at the same time, or one then the other. there seems to be 2 sets of lines going to each front caliper.

thanks!

obin