95 monti carlo rear brakes do not seem to be working?

Answer 1

Have you adjusted the rear brakes lately. If they drum and don't set emergency brake the rear brakes get out of adjustment.

Answer 2

First, you need to do a visual inspection.

Start at the master cylinder.
1. Do you see any leaks around the lid's gastket?
REPLACE
2. Do you see any leaks at the brake line leading rearward?
REPLACE AND BLEED THE SYSTEM BLEEDING INSTRUCTIONS WILL FOLLOW
3. Do you smell brake fluid? Find the leak, replace the parts, bleed the system. Clean all parts with Brake Cleaner, don't get it on your paint. IF you do, flush with water.

Open the lid and look at the fluid and its level.
1. Is there fluid in both the front and rear wells? Only one well is low, you have a leak, continue inspecting from front to rear until you find the leak, replace the part(s) and bleed the system.
2. Is the fluid clean or dirty? Clean fluid is usually a golden color, dirty fluid is usually brown to black. Dirty fluid is a sign that either the master cylinders lid has a bad seal or that one or more wheel cylinders are failing, the rubber boots are cracked, ripped or have dislodged and dirt is getting into the lines. REPLACE ALL WORN PARTS. FLUSH THE WHOLE SYSTEM, BLEED SYSTEM.
3. Is the lid's gasket cracked, ripped, dry rotted or missing? REPLACE AND FLUSH THE SYSTEM, BLEED SYSTEM.

Inspect the brake proportioning valve. Is it broken, dented, pinched or rusted? REPLACE AND FLUSH SYSTEM.

Follow the brake lines rearward, looking for leaks, bends, kinks, breaks, pinches, debris around the lines. Where the brakeline enters the rear proportioning valve at the differential, do the same visual check, any leaks? REPLACE AND FLUSH SYSTEM

From the proportioning valve check each line going to the backing plate and wheel cylinder. Make the same checks as you have done so far.

Chock the front wheels, loosen the lug nuts, jack up and support the car on jack stands and take the wheels off. Inspect the wheel cylinders for leaks, missing or ripped rubber caps. Are any of the pieces of break hardware broken, missing, bent or otherwise mal-shaped? REPLACE AS NECESSARY AND FLUSH SYSTEM.

Make sure the bleeder screws are tight and sealed, no leaks.

Inspect the brake shoes, are they worn out, thin, cracked or broken? REPLACE AS NECESSARY AND FLUSH SYSTEM

Inspect the drum and check the runout, the minimum thickness, which should be stamped on each drum. If you dont see it, take the drums to an auto parts store and ask them to MIC the drums. If they are too thin, replace drums and shoes together, (replace the hardware and wheel cylinders if they look to be old or if they have high milage on them, this will prevent further problems cause by mixing new and older parts) then flush system, bleeding the brakes.

If nothing seems to be wrong at this point, place the drum back onto the wheel studs and push just far enough in that you can still see the brake shoes (make sure the other side's drum is fully on). Have someone step down on the brake pedal and watch for the shoes to move out and make contact with the drum, repeat for the other side. Do both engage the drums? IF it seems that they don't engage solidly, you may need to take a brake spoon to the adjusters and adjust them out until they touch the drums with the brake pedal at rest, no one pushing on it. Now, adjust them back the other way until the shoes no longer touch the drums. Keep the distance between the face of the drum and the face of the shoes to a minimum. Too much space and your rear brakes may not engage when applied, too little and the slightest touch will cause them to engage. On older systems with worn wheel cylinders, this will cause brake drag, which can cause brake failure or a fire from overheating.

NOTE:

What ever you do to one side should be done to the other. Match everything you do to the system from side to side to prevent other problems that occur from mixing older and newer parts. If you fail to follow this pattern of replacement, you increase the likelyhood of future problems.

BLEEDING the BRAKES. Make sure the resevior is full and the lid is sealed and tightened down.

Begin at the passenger rear wheel. Have someone depress the brake pedal 20 times or until the pedal hardens. Hold the pedal and open the brake line at the wheel cylinder slowly, allowing the fluid to run out into a catch can. Watch for bubbles, close the bleeder screw and pump the pedal again. Repeat this proceedure until all bubbles are eliminated from that line and wheel cylinder.

Recheck and refill the master cylinder as necessary. DO NOT ALLOW THE MASTER CYLINDER TO RUN DRY. IF you do so, start from the beginning and check all of your brake lines, it is possible to blow the lines when they are dry.

Go to the driver's rear and repeat the process. Next go to the passenger's front and repeat the process, finishing with the driver's front.

If brake fluid gets on the brakes, clean with a can of brake cleaner, all parts, including the drums, make sure everything is dry before reassembling.

There are many things that could cause your problem, so I tried to detail how to properly check and repair the brakes. I hope this helps. IF you need additional help, please repost.

Answer 3

As long as you do not have any warning lights on the dash on, the hydraulics of the brakes should be okay. Remove both rear wheels and attempt to pull the caliper/rotor assembly back and forth with everything still bolted together. If you cannot budge things back and forth, chances are the calipers and/or the rotors are seized. The most likely thing that goes wrong with these is the slider assemblies that are supposed to allow the caliper to float with wear have seized. You will have to remove the calipers and check. If they are seized you will have to get a repair kit that GM sells for this condition and overhaul the sliders of the calipers. Some calipers have seized pistons which would require either new calipers or rebuild the originals. That doesn't happen very often though.