This is a long shot. Anyone clued up on brake systems? I have a hydraulic brake booster in my car ('94 Nissan Cedric), and from what i can gather, these are somewhat rare (most cars have vaccuum boosters). Lately though i have been getting a warning beep to tell me that pressure in the system is dropping below a certain limit. Its very intermittent (once every 20-30 times i press the brakes) and brakes feel fine/car stops etc. Checking the service manual it suggests replacing the whole unit when this fails. But then i can also see that some versions of my car come with a hydraulic brake booster; driven from the intake manifold. It appears that the 300ZX hydraulic brake booster will fit in there without many problems. So the question i have is; what are the pro's/cons of the hydraulic brake booster and will i lose anything by converting to a vaccuumsystem? All i can find is info that for hypo engines and lumpy cams, there may not be much vaccuum available, but mine is a non turbo VG30DE. The other option is to import another hydraulic booster from Japan; but that will be the expensive option!
Obviously there are some vehicles that DO NOT have Brake Boosters(although it is many years since I have seen one such)but I am unable to think of any instance where a vehicle WITH a Brake Booster, has had anything other than a vacuum boosted system(I certainly have no recollection of ever seeing, or hearing, of any other system being used on a road registered car in this country). Given the obvious proliferation of vacuum assisted braking systems over the past 50 years(or more)on every type of vehicle, it would seem to be a "no-brainer" as to which system is considered superior IMHO. Sorry I can't be of more help with this.
Thanks, that does actually help. The hydraulic system seems unnecessarily complex and it means that every second or 3rd brake press i hear this pump whirring away at the front. I'm thinking it was another one of those Japanese things where they just tried it for the hell of it (like the active hydraulic suspension in Toyota Soarers). Are the brake boosters the same in TT/NA Z32s? I have a pair of TT calipers/rotors to put on the front hence i figured it would all match up if i got the brake booster to go with it...
Bigger brake booster = more touchy brakes? I always liked that about newer cars - hardly any pressure required to stop the car
115mm from firewall to brake master cylinder mount face 250mm overall diameter 145mm from firewall mounting face to brake pedal pivot at rest (adjustable ~20mm) mounting pattern on firewall is 80mm by 60mm (four studs ~55mm long) mounting pattern on master cylinder side is two studs horizontal 80mm apart 40mm hole in master cylinder face (master cylinder fits in to this) studs are all metric thread m7 by 1.25 I think? Dimensions from 1990 Z32 NA
If you don't have any success with a vacuum booster let me know Dom, finding either the new or second hand hydraulic booster in Japan won't be difficult. Y32's went up to about 1999 or something ridiculous like that (concurrently with the Y34!) since they were still being used for taxis, so parts are plentiful. Ben
Thanks Ben, yeah i found a few on YAJ (even one for 1480yen!); but then i just started wondering if its worth replacing this system if it offers no clear benefit, and has so many places where things can go wrong... The normal ones just seem so damn simple and elegant!
Landcruisers for the last 10 years or so have hydraulic boosters and they work extremely well (I have one). Perhaps this would be a possibility? Cheers, Dave.
