"New" to me 95 Bonne SE

[FordMan77]

Was given a 95 Bonneville SE from a co-worker. Has the Series II in it like my GP. Anything on this particular year/model that is an issue outside the standard gasket/coolant issues like all other series II's? Car has 147K on it with all maint. done as required/needed by previous owner. She took care of this car very well.

Right now the only things I have to fix are leaking coolant elbows, and find out what's wrong with the brakes, as for some reason after the car sat for the last week at her house, the brake pedal sinks quite a bit before you stop, far more than normal. They had been working fine, as I just put a new A/C compressor on it last month and when I drive it then all was well.

The master cyl. is new and still full and I don't hear signs of other brake issues, but haven't pulled it in the garage yet to look.

The only other odd thing I noticed is that when you press on the brake pedal, the display in the radio dims quite a bit. With or without the lights on. Never seen one do that before.

Jay

[BillBoost37]

Hiya Bonneville guy.. The stuff dims because of the amount of vacuum being pulled for the brakes. There's a good chance you have a rubber hose that is becoming pregnant when you press them. This causes the symptoms you mention.

Overall the car should be pretty good, if all hell breaks loose with the way the engine runs.. look at a few things, then swap the pcm. It's that flakey.

[FordMan77]

So I guess it's time to check the rubber brake lines then, eh? Never thought of that. Strange how vac. will make the radio display dim. Guess it's taxing the motor and it dips a little. Figured it was a ground issue.

So how flaky are the PCM's in these things? I'd bet this one is still stock.

Might wander over to my GMForum and search through the Bonneville section for some reading material.

I figure even if I have to put $100 into it, then it's all good seeing as how the car was free to me.