Imperial Home Page -> Repair -> Brakes -> Sure Brakes
Question from Peter:
My car has a"sure brake" light in the instrument panel but it has never come on. The brake pedal (unsure weather on not it is original) does not say "sure brake" on it. The car however brakes like it has anti-lock brakes. It's been a while since the rotors have been of my car but I believe the inside diameter measures out to 7.5 inches. Can you be of some assistance please?
Replies:
From Kerry:
I wouldn't know a sure brake system if it bit me. However, I'd expect there would be something downstream of the master cylinder with wires going to it. On the standard car there are two hydraulic lines coming from the MC. One goes to the front wheels, the other the back. If the lines go direct to a junction box and then to the brakes, I'd say it's NOT Surebrake.
It wouldn't surprise me if the surebrake light is built into every dash. I don't remember seeing it on my 73 but then again I've slept at least once since then.
From Elijah:
All 1971-1973 Imperials have the "Sure Brake" indicator in the instrument cluster. However, unless your car actually has the Sure Brake system, there is not a light bulb installed in the indicator.
It's easy to tell if your car has Sure Brake. Open the hood, and then look for the large components shown here. You should easily be able to see the three large cannister-like items; one is located under the front of each front fender, while the third is located on the passenger side wheelwell.
If your car does not have this equipment under the hood, you do not have Sure Brake.
If your car DOES have Sure Brake, you will need to replace the rotors from another car also equipped with Sure Brake. Otherwise, the Sure Brake system will no longer function correctly. In fact, replacing the rotors with non-Sure Brake rotors could potentially be dangerous, since the system would get a signal from the rear brakes, but not from the front, leading it to believe that the front brakes were locked each time the car brakes.
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