strange rear brake behaviour?

[hamiltonaudio]

It seems my rear brakes are causing me an issue :) After the car sits for a period of time (overnight lets say), the next day my pedal feel is normal, but the rear brakes are EXTREMELY touchy. Just feathering the pedal they lock up (lots of snow so I feel it). After about 10 stops like this, my pedal feel tightens up substantially and the rears are no longer touchy.

Basically I then get about 1/4 pedal travel "with feel" and then it gets really hard. I can still get into it and the car brakes just fine, but the pedal stays unusually hard. After a little bit it seems to "soften up" a touch, but still stays much harder than I think is normal.

For the winter, I've pulled the ABS fuse because I don't like it kicking in all the time. A few mechanics tell me this is not an issue, but could the ABS system being disabled (with the ABS light on the dash) be adding to this problem? I know the ultimate answer is to pull the rear brakes apart and rebuild them (they likely need it) but I wantd to be armed with good info before I let a mechanic in there :)

thanks!
bmoney

[Lowizle37]

my 96 does the same crap with the rear brakes being very sensitive, ive gotten into the habit of slightly riding the brakes out of my driveway and that ussually takes care of it...its not the abs, its something to do with brake dust build up...the only way to solve the problem permantly would be a rear disc conversion...so i am told from my mechanic

[hamiltonaudio]

yeah a lot of searching and reading has told me the same thing. But it doesn't really explain why the pedal gets hard after the grabbiness goes away?

I'm almost convinced now that when I have the rear brakes rebuilt and replace the entire braking systems fluid with fresh stuff that things will be much better.

bmoney

[tenspeed]

It's sort of a common problem with rear drums. I've had it happen on a couple different cars.

New rear brakes will cure it, for a while. I just take it easy for the first couple of stops. I don't know why the pedal is hard.

[pontiac3100]

yea...it is pretty common on rear drums.
couple weeks ago i was backing out this neon
as i was driving i went to make a turn and hit the brakes...the rears locked up.

my car does it but not that bad.

[hamiltonaudio]

well shucks. :) I drove quite a bit tonite....it snowed like 13" today so I was plowing through some really deep stuff...the pedal was VERY stiff for a bit, but as I drove and things warmed up some feel came back - almost to an acceptable level....

just makes me wonder wtf is going on really....with there being just sooooo much variation in how it behaves :(

bmoney

[SE2000]

Disc brakes have a restrictor to keep all the fluid from going back into the resivour. A wear restrictor would explain your problem.

[pontiac3100]

this may be a biut off topic.
but i love how the 92-98 ga abs works...kicks ass.
the trac. cont works pretty well too....

[DSMMAN]

^^^^ My 93 doesnt have traction control I dont think. Not sure if your saying you like how it works on those specific listed cars you mentioned .

[andrewe77]

It's caused by surface rust forming on the rotor or drum surface. You'll notice it more when it rains.

[hamiltonaudio]

Originally posted by pontiac3100
this may be a biut off topic.
but i love how the 92-98 ga abs works...kicks ass.
the trac. cont works pretty well too....

really? I personally HATE how touchy the abs is on this car...I found I was more in control when I could lock em up if I wanted...the traction control is pretty solid, but again I turn it off a lot in deeper snow cause you want to rev and spin out to get going (at least here in snow-laden Winnipeg!)

bmoney

[BBT]

New brakes with quality components should cure it. Had a similar problem with my 95 GA. Mine occurred more in the summer when it was warm. The rears would lock up at the end of a stop, and stay locked as I gave it gas, releasing qucikly with a 'pop'! I had had the brakes done with cheap parts because I expected to sell the car. I ended up hanging onto to it after all, and when I needed to do the brakes later on, the change to real good parts made all the difference in the world.

Something to cinsider when the time comes.

[pontiac3100]

^^^HEY thats what mines did.
one would stay lock till i took off....so it neeeds rear cylinder's, and shoes whould take care of it.

your abs is touchy??
i have a set of 205/50r16 dunlop sport fm's and those are summer tires only.

dude this car moved out of the chi-town snow.
in the rain it does'nt lock up really.
but in the winter snow oh man i was really glad to have it.
also i did'nt think it works so well in "black ice"....
(my xr-7 did'nt do the job as the ga did and i had the good tires w/ oem size).
i was going under a bridge and when i came up it was wet w/ ice then the trac. started working and i let off(when i seen 3 wrecked cars) and i hit the brakes...damn that abs worked it's ass off.

if i did'nt have abs...i would've ended up in the back of a caprice!

i'm not used to the 92-98 ga abs system.
so i have to force myself to get the hang of it.

OH YEA; it's impressive that it works in reverse too!
my acura or mercury did'nt do that!

[bballr4567]

Mmmmm drums.

[HeyDace]

A sticking wheel cylinder(s) will give you a hard pedal as well as a defective brake booster. Replace the wheelies, hardware, drums and the shoes. Replace the shoes with a set of riveted shoes. Bonded suck for the little GA's. Flush out the fluid (which should be done every 2 years anyway, unless of course GM uses "DEX" fluid) :lol: And replace the ABS fuse.

[Rockfan1815]

I have the same problem with my 96 se. I replaced the rotors, calipers and pads in the front and the shoes and drums in back and when first starting out the rear is very touchy. The problem seems to be slowly going away as the rear pads wear down, but if I jump on the brakes real hard then they will start to lock up and then of coarse abs backs off pressure.

[goredsox]

Originally posted by BBT
New brakes with quality components should cure it. Had a similar problem with my 95 GA. Mine occurred more in the summer when it was warm. The rears would lock up at the end of a stop, and stay locked as I gave it gas, releasing qucikly with a 'pop'! I had had the brakes done with cheap parts because I expected to sell the car. I ended up hanging onto to it after all, and when I needed to do the brakes later on, the change to real good parts made all the difference in the world.

Something to cinsider when the time comes.

that is exactly what happens on my car!!! I dont need rear shoes though i guess i will wait till i need them and then replace with top of thre line oem equipment...

i do notice though that if i clean out the rear drums very good every few months it will help with my braking...

i live in AZ so the only time i might ever need my ABS is maybe during rain and a hard stop or if the road is really dusty....