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Slammed on brakes...now brakes squishy!


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Hi All,

 

I don't want to get hosed at the repair shop so I wanted to ask you all.

 

I had to jump on the brakes pretty hard last night after someone ran a red light out in front of me.  The brakes engaged, went soft and then a the bottom reengaged as I came to a stop.  Now every time I brake their squishy almost all the way down to the floor where I get braking power.  

 

-  No visible leakes

-  Brake fluid reservoir still full

 

Ive called a couple places and haven't gotten the same answer twice....

 

Little help!

 

Thanks All!

 

Steve

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  • 4 months later...

What I don't understand is why if the booster goes bad, the brakes go soft? To me, it seems the opposite would be the case. The booster multiplies the force applied to the master cylinder, failed booster would mean that the foot now has to apply all of that missing force for the same brake effect.

A soft pedal, to me, implies that hydraulics are being bled around seals in the master cylinder or a line has ruptured, or a seal in the caliper is leaking.

And that's why I'm an electrician, not an car mechanic. ;)

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Slamming on the brakes may have caused a brake pad to stick or the caliper fail with enough space between the caliper piston and the pad to accept a lot of fluid. I had a caliper fail where the ratchet adjustment mechanism would not work and keep the gap very small. The result was soft and squishy brakes! if you examine the calipers in the rear, see if the inner pads have any clearance to the piston. If so, check that out first.

When my booster failed, the pedal would sink very low and lose the power assist so I had to push hard and actually pump the brake pedal. The booster also made a noise like an air (vacuum, really) leak when I pressed the pedal. 

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  • 6 months later...

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