So on my 1992 GXE With four wheel dics i have a slight (couple Drops a day) leak. It seems to be coming from the front right (below the ABS actuator or w/e) I cant see exactly where its coming from though. Also my rear discs dont work, so wat im thinkin is the leak is a hole in the rear line leavin the abs and air got into the line so when i brake im pumpin air so nothing happin in back, the e brake still works tho. Any suggestions would be great. Im on a very tight budget also. I was thinkin of finding the leak, sumhow temporarily stopping it and then bleeding the rear brakes to see if that works. How it sound? Lemme know wat u think. Thanks in Advance.

 

The ABS pump (actuator) is known to fail in these cars eventually. unfortunately it's about a $900 part from the dealer, and getting another one from a junkyard is a crapshoot.

You need to first find the source of the leak. If you're lucky, it's a rusted line that can be cut off and patched with a new section of line and a coupler.
If you're unlucky, it's the ABS pump itself that's leaking.

If your rear brakes are working, it's very likely due to the cause of the leak.

The first thing you need to do is figure out exactly where the system is leaking, then fix that. the rest of it should fix itself afterwards.


FYI, your emergency/parking brake is mechanical. the inside of the pistons on the rear caliper is threaded, and the handle is connected to the calipers via a steel cable- kinda like the good ol' bicycle brakes only with more clamping force.

That at least tells you that the rear calipers aren't siezed. that's both good news and bad if they're not working. but at least now you know they're not the calipers and you should focus on the drip.

 

Thanks matt, regarding the calipers pistons not being seized, thats wat i was thinking/hoping which is why i included that part. So since the front brakes work obviously my master cylinder works, and since the e brake works the pistons work so for the most part that rules it down the air in the lines i hope....i havent gotten much free time lately but hopefully soon il try to fix it.

 

basically, yes.

the way the stock non-ABS brakes work is that the master cylinder is a 'dual-zone'. the front right and left rear are connected. the front left and right rear are connected. that way if you burst one line, you lose one wheel on each axle. Since they're across the car, you should still be able to maintain control when you hit the brakes and stop the car on two wheels.

If just your fronts work, I'd say that's more along the lines of a post-ABS pump issue on the rear brake circuit. the early ABS systems had 3 channels. one for each front and 1 for both rear wheels. I'm not sure if that's how the Maxima is set up, but that's what it sounds like to me.

Either way, you need to find the drop and fix it. whatever is causing that is causing your problem.

 

well so far no luck in finding the leak, its a tricky one, what do u think a shop would charge for fixing a leak/ or replacing the bad line?

 

theres actually a maxima in the JY here with a ABS pump, I can check it out tomorrow when I go. LMK if your interested.

~Alex

 

no thanks those things are expensive,and my pumps fine its the rear brake line since on the rears dont work and its a post pump problem.

 

so you don't know where the leak is in post 5 but in post 7 you do?

 

i just know the leak is post abs, i dont where in the line it is

 

how do you know that if you don't know where the leak is?

 

well i can see the lines to the abs and theres nothing leaking, and ... hmmm well i suppose it could be the part of the ABS pump itself that controls the rear brakes right? well either way the rear brakes dont work and im near sure that its because of air in the lines sumwhere. I dont have much money to spend so im hoping the ABS pump is fine.... right now my abs doesnt work but its because the left front circuit sensor is bad (so the abs computer says). so either its dirty or bad but either way how do i get to the sensor to find out wats wrong?