1996 Chevy Blazer Intermittent braking problem

MARC123

MEMBER
1996 CHEVROLET BLAZER
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
120,000 MILES

When braking for a stop, The brake petal is hard and there is no brakes at all, and a motorized noise is heard under hood then stops after car is stopped, then brakes return to normal till this happens again, I think maybe ABS is going bad what do you think it could be?

Thanks

Marc.

6 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,130 POSTS

When this happens, do the brakes work at all? Also, if so, do they feel like manual brakes with no power assist?

Let me know.

Joe

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Saturday, February 6th, 2010 AT 11:54 PM

MARC123

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Thank you. There is no brakes at all, they seem to go almost to the floor, happend again today when I went to stop, I notice it seems to happen more when like you start to slide on ice though, dont know about the relation, the brakes dont work and there is a motor like noise in the engine campartment when it happens, then they go back to normal brakes, weird. Thinking antilock motor?

Bigger problem today.
I know this is alot to ask but blazer was stuck in 4 wheel today, wife thought it was in 2 wheel drive and called me she was stranded, I looked at engine compartment and it was covered by Gear Oil ! I am wondering if she over heated the Diff. And it blew out the oil out vent. Or a axle seal. Maybe blocked vent and it went through seal insted to releave pressure. Roads were wet but not snow covered today, the fluid was mostly on lower engine area and axles and thier boots, is there a way to pin point the leak? I degreased and cleaned the bottom at work and drove it home in 2 wheel by pulling the 4 wheel fuse in the box. It was Gear oil for sure you cant miss that smell. Lol

Thanks for your reply

Marc

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Friday, February 12th, 2010 AT 9:03 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
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Marc, there is a breather that runs from the top of the differential. If she was spinning, it may have caused the gear lube to escape from there. Did you check it to make sure it is full? Also, since you already cleaned it, make sure it is full and then check for leaks. Chances are there will be no more.

As far as the brakes, check the ABS sensors at each wheel. Make sure they are clean. During this time of the year, they collect a lot of dirt. As a result, the sensor thinks the stator stops moving and kicks in the ABS.

Also, make sure there are no vacuum leaks to the vacuum booster behind the master cylender. If it looses pressure, it will feel like you are pushing on a brick to stop.

Let me know what you find.

Joe

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Monday, February 15th, 2010 AT 12:06 AM

MARC123

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hello, I will check all to what you said when the weather gets a little better here. Were buried in snow, also I made a donation to website. Hope you got it.

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Monday, February 15th, 2010 AT 6:53 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,130 POSTS

Marc:
First, thanks for the donation. It helps us keep things going.

As far as the problems, let me know what you find. I plan to be here a long time, so I will be able to help you when you get to it.

As far as the snow, same here. I'm about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. I am already tired of it and waiting for spring. I don't know where you are, but if you have a lot of snow, we may be a lot closer than we know.

Take care and I look forward to hearing from you. Again, thanks for the donation, and thanks for using 2carpros. Com.

Joe