Do I have hydroboost? (PICS)

[Jeri99]

I just wanted to know if my braking system has hydroboost

Here are some pics I snapped

 

[zraffz]

Yes

 

[Jeri99]

thank you...just curious what shows its a hydroboost system?

 

[swathdiver]

For starters there's no brake booster. Instead, in that area you have metal high pressure lines that run down to the power steering pump (if it's still rigged the same from the 1970s-80s).

Great system, my first car with it was a 1982 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham with the diesel engine. The next was an early 1985 Buick Regal T-Type.

 

[Jeri99]

thanks for clearing that up for me...the reason behind this questions is...I noticed this seepage




Along with this sound

Curious if they’re related...

 

[zraffz]

Hydroboost unit is a pain to change. Mine leaked, after a few bottles of stop leak it eventually stopped, luckily!

It's got it's advantages and disadvantages. If you had a radical cam, it would be very beneficial. If your belt breaks you'll have very poor stopping power.

 

[zraffz]

It is also common for seepage down that part of the frame rail behind the upper control arm when the unit is leaking.

Easiest way to identify the hydroboost unit is the lack of the big round brake booster and those two line behind the master cylinder.

 

[Jeri99]

I’ll check it out if it’s leaking behind the upper control arm...zraffz the few bottles of stop leak were power steering fluid?

What’s a radical cam?

If I wanted to proactively change out my belts...where am I looking for these belts to inspect ....which ones should I get?

 

[bottomline2000]

It's not hard to changed the seal in the hydroboost.i just changed mine for a 2nd time since I nicked and edge on the first seal and it leaked. First time I pulled the whole thing out from under the dash.

This last time I seperated the master cylinder from the hydroboost and then just took the front of the hydroboost off. There is a seal in the drop half that needs to be replaced. I don't do stop leak anything.

Key item is to make sure the cone shaped mechanism going into the groove of the lever connected to the piston when installing it back together. It controls pressure and if you don't do this your brake pedal will hit the floor when u start your truck and goodbye seal. I'll take hydroboost over vacuum boost any day. I converted mine to hydroboost and it's night and day difference. There is a YouTube video on this and they link to their ebay page for the parts. I got everything from diyauto on ebay..

Radical cams are aftermarket cams with higher lift and longer durations than stock..great for making power but they tend to not offer much vacuum hence your brakes suffer on a vacuum assist sustem with a big cam. Having hydroboost means your aren't dependent upon engine vacuum so feel free to mod away and your brakes don't change. As long as you maintain your belts and don't left the power steering get low u shouldn't have to worry about breaking the serpentine belt. U have an idiot gauge and light for the alternator so as long as it's not allowed to operate with a problem u should be good..

There is one main belt. Look at the back of the main serpentine belt for cracks. There is a smaller belt at the bottom and it just runs the ac compressor off the crank.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[1_8TTony]

Radical cam = less vacuum due to "valve overlap". (intake & exhaust valves are momentarily open at the same time.