Debating on whether to call a tow truck..

1

1BUICKT

Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
I'm at work and have about a 30min drive ahead of me to get home... my powermaster is acting up. Symptoms are rock hard brake pedal, no noise from pm, no brake light on, and very slow stopping (compared to what I'm used to). Also the pm fuse is not blown.

My question is, to the experienced, will my car stay this way or is there a decent chance of me losing the brakes entirely? After I get the car home I plan on doing some napa part searches and going vacuum.

Thanks,
Johnny
 
I wouldn't risk a 30min drive with any car if the brakes were acting up. Not sure if it get worse, but I wouldn't chance it. Do you have a spare accumulator at home?

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I think everyone (including myself) is gonna tell ya, play it safe. The cost for a tow will be less than a wreck.

That being said, they guy who rebuilt my Powermaster told me the TB he bought for his wife had the PM pump go out. She never said anything and drove it for a year before he fixed it. She just thought that was how the brakes were supposed to be since it was an old car. So when it fails, the brakes work fine, you just have zero power assist.

Full disclosure, I have never driven without the PM working so I don't have any road experience., but stories on this forum suggest it is pretty damn scary.
 
If you can afford to have it towed or hauled that would be the safe way to go.

The brakes will most likely stay the way they are now and not get any worse.

Back in the late 90's the same thing happened to my PM brakes. And i ended up driving from Daytona Beach to Jacksonville Fla with them that way and to make it worse i got caught in a down pour of rain. My plan was to head for the side of the road if at all possible to avoid hitting someone in the rear. I drove in the right hand lane with my emergency flashers on and as slow as safely possible,my main concern was if someone cut in front of me and slammed on their brakes. I made the trip
without any problems but i was wide eyed and alert the whole time. That was when i was younger and sort of dumb,the only thing that has changed is I'm older now.
 
Last edited:
1BUICKT said:
I'm at work and have about a 30min drive ahead of me to get home... my powermaster is acting up. Symptoms are rock hard brake pedal, no noise from pm, no brake light on, and very slow stopping (compared to what I'm used to). Also the pm fuse is not blown.

My question is, to the experienced, will my car stay this way or is there a decent chance of me losing the brakes entirely? After I get the car home I plan on doing some napa part searches and going vacuum.

Thanks,
Johnny
Click to expand...

EZ answer. Sounds like an accumulator or?

Anyway - So tow it! $100+ for a tow vs. WHO KNOWS? Minor or major fender bender or aggravation or down time or you get it. TOW IT.
 
Call a truck. There's no point in taking a chance. The BEST scenario is you get home safe.

I wouldn't want to even consider the alternative scenarios.
 
Thanks for the replies guys... I made it home safe. I started the Buick after work and the brakes felt fine again so I drove it home... when I was roughly a mile or so away the pm started squeeling like crazy and pedal felt mush. It's in my garage, where it will stay while do the research on part numbers for the vacuum set up parts.
 
Johnny,
First off you have an absolutely incredibly awesome first name. Hahahahah. Now that I got that out of the way, I went vacuum and it was relatively painless. Not being a mechanic per se, I *can * work on and fix stuff but TB's are their own animal -- kinda complicated. Nothing at all like my old BB chevelle was. That's why I didn't go hydroboost as I thought it was a little out of my comfort zone. Vacuum assist is pretty simple.

I had a perfectly good working powermaster, but I always asked "For how long ?" I said a little prayer each time I drove it. Paranoid? Maybe.... A little, but prayer never hurts. ( seems to work for me).
Anyway, I spent a little more $ and bought the kit from kirban's. It saved me a lot of time looking for needed parts (and kirban's has been good to me.) The kit had everything I needed , and I also chose to buy the stainless flex brake lines for insurance.
In short, I am very happy I did the swap. I hope you have the good luck that I had.

Johnnie
 
It's not the accumulator. If it were, the pump would run indefinitely and you'd still get 'some' brake assist. Most likely the pressure switch on top. Check the connection.
 
Thanks guys for the replies and advice. I went ahead, bit the bullet, and purchased everything new through O'reilly's and picked a brake pedal from another forum member. I have yet to actually do the install yet.. everything (including my Buick) is sitting nice and neat in the garage. Hopefully this upcoming weekend I can get the swap done.
 
Dialtone76 said:
That being said, they guy who rebuilt my Powermaster told me the TB he bought for his wife had the PM pump go out. She never said anything and drove it for a year before he fixed it. She just thought that was how the brakes were supposed to be since it was an old car. So when it fails, the brakes work fine, you just have zero power assist.
Click to expand...
When my PM failed, stepping on the brake pedal was like trying to step on a brick to push it through a concrete floor - that woman must have some legs.
 
1BUICKT said:
Thanks guys for the replies and advice. I went ahead, bit the bullet, and purchased everything new through O'reilly's and picked a brake pedal from another forum member. I have yet to actually do the install yet.. everything (including my Buick) is sitting nice and neat in the garage. Hopefully this upcoming weekend I can get the swap done.
Click to expand...
You decided to replace the whole braking system instead of a switch. If you don't know anything about the Powermaster brake system,how do you know who's advice to take?
 
Ttype6 said:
You decided to replace the whole braking system instead of a switch. If you don't know anything about the Powermaster brake system,how do you know who's advice to take?
Click to expand...
I'm taking my own advice and switching it over to vacuum.. it has always been a plan to one day do this, just wasnt decided upon when until this recent situation that now would be the time.
 
Sorry the link i posted did not work. I've been having trouble with that lately.

It is for the vacuum block that has the extra port and fitting for vacuum brakes from Kirbans Performance.

You can look it up on his website under the vendors section.
 
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