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Brakes briefly turned to mashed potatoes


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As I pressed the brakes to turn into a turning lane, the car made an odd noise (I thought maybe I ran over something but didnt see anything in my mirror) and the brakes went mushy briefly, then went back to normal. It still slowed down, but the pedal was all the way down. I did notice the traction control light blink briefly but didnt stay on (maybe because the pedal was fully engaged and the car was still moving?).

 

Reluctantly I had to drive the 1/4 mi from the gym back to my work, so after giving it some parking lot tests and looking for brake fluid under the vehicle, I headed back down the road and the brakes felt normal.

 

I dont know if a vacuum line for the brakes went, if there was air in the system, if the booster went or what, but I cant stand potential issues thats I cant recreate to figure out. Im hoping air in the system surfaced since the dealer did change the brakes before I bought it in July.

 

Any other ideas?

Edited by TheFloppyWeasel
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Sounds like the ABS engaged. Is it possible you hit a slick patch on the road? If not it may be a flaky wheel speed sensor.

Highly doubtful being dry. Would a wheel speed sensor cause the brakes to go all wet sponge on me? I guess if it engages the ABS it wont allow the brakes to fully engage thus increasing stopping distance and brake mushiness.

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If the traction light came on briefly, then it might have been the stability control system engaging, which uses the ABS to modulates individual wheel brakes to prevent or reduce a skid. It would also make sense since you were turning.

The only thing here though is that it happened as I was merging into the turn lane and coming to a stop at lower mph. I hadnt started the left turn yet. Maybe that doesnt matter?

 

Would that be a common thing though? Its never done that before and Ive chucked it into a hard turn before while braking hard. Im trying to decide if I need to send it to the dealer or at least have a couple of specific things I can check on myself.

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More common when turning but still possible. I wouldn't worry if the brakes are working ok now until it happens again.

Haha thats what Im worried about...if it happens again. Im about to head home, so well see

 

So I think I may be in luck. Going back to akirbys first response, it could have been a slick spot on the road. As I was driving past the location where the brakes went wonky, I noticed a rather large spot of what looked to be some sort of oil, right where I would have been merging. Im thinking this is what caused the abs to kick in.

Edited by TheFloppyWeasel
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