Brake PRoblem

[pbglas]

Sorry for posting here. I tried 'How to' section but couldn't post there.

Yesterday, I pressed the brakes and the car wouldn't stop initially and then did stop but taking three to four times the distance I would have expected. Fortunately, I hit no one. After that it was OK but felt a bit mushy. Then it happened again. Does anyone have any idea why this might have happened. I will take it to a mechanic but any past experince I can take with will help. This is scary.

[Ldub]

Did the pedal go to the floor?

Have you checked the fluid level?

[MSHardeman]

Ditto. Sounds like air in the lines. If your fluid is low then the brake light should have come on. Maybe the light is out?

Good luck and be careful until you get it to your mechanic.

[pbglas]

Thanks, everyone. This really is terrific group. Fluid was ok. He bled the lines. brake pads were effectively gone. We ended up replacing pads. Seems to be better. Let's see. Thanks everyone.

[Ldub]

If the pads were "effectively gone", the rotors may have been damaged also.

If that's the case, braking power will be decreased & pad wear will be increased, niether is good.

[VX crazy]

could be brake booster too.....

[IRONVIKING]

Seems weird that the pads would cause it to fail like that. No noise from the worn pads?
And you said it happened twice? Just be careful. To me it seems like it would be something other than the pads.

[Marlin]

Mine has similar mushy feeling, almost scary. Installed SS brake lines today. Only got 3/4 done, the drivers front was rusted together, gotta buy 6 feet of hard line to run from the ABS module to the caliper. Boo!! Doesn't seem to have made a difference, need to replace the booster next. Hopefully yours is something simple as well.

[Ldub]

Mine has similar mushy feeling, almost scary. Installed SS brake lines today. Only got 3/4 done, the drivers front was rusted together, gotta buy 6 feet of hard line to run from the ABS module to the caliper. Boo!! Doesn't seem to have made a difference, need to replace the booster next. Hopefully yours is something simple as well.

In pics you've posted of your new lines, I only see four lines...

Without the fifth line, you're not going to see as much improvment.

[RamAirZ]

The 5th line is for the line running to the rear axle right? You should still see improvement as most of your stopping is done with the front brakes so if those are upgraded you SHOULD feel a difference if everything else is working correctly. I'd say master cylinder before booster myself. Your brakes won't feel mushy with a bad booster, it will get stiff and have weak braking. It sounds like air in the lines which can also be a leaky booster, sometimes the "piston" seal inside the booster (where the pedal slides in and pushes the fluid out) gets a tear or gets worn out and will allow leakage inside the cylinder, instead of pushing all the pressure out, it leaks some by. That would be my guesses on it. It's very rare that a booster fails before a master cylinder does. Here's a good read if you want to know how a booster works

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-p...wer-brake1.htm

A good test for your booster, turn the engine off, pump the brakes several times until they get hard to push (if you can even push them at all), then while still holding the brake, start the truck and you'll feel the pedal get softer and move down, voila, your booster works. If you do this and it stays stiff, your booster is either bad or it's not getting vacuum.

[Ldub]

Without the fifth line, you're not going to see as much improvment.

The 5th line is for the line running to the rear axle right? You should still see improvement as most of your stopping is done with the front brakes so if those are upgraded you SHOULD feel a difference if everything else is working correctly.

On most vehicles I'd say you're right, but I've never seen or heard of a VX wearing out it's front pads before the rears.
I have replaced my rears twice before the fronts needed it.
Unless they're using a softer compound for the rear pads...

[RamAirZ]

The compound and the "pre-load" could be factors, shoot my wife's 07' Camry has a TSB for the rear pads wearing out too fast. Your always going to have more than 50% (usually like 85/15 or so but sometimes more rear bias) because all the weight is on the front end with the engine etc. Now on a rear/mid engine car, the bias is probably different but you want most of the stopping power up front where all the weight it. And sorry, didn't see the "as much" for some reason lol

[Ldub]

The compound and the "pre-load" could be factors,

By "preload" do you mean proportioning?

[Marlin]

In pics you've posted of your new lines, I only see four lines...

Without the fifth line, you're not going to see as much improvment.

That is true, I did not do the rear T-line or feeder or whatever it is called. I'm gettin there.

[Gussie2000]

On most vehicles I'd say you're right, but I've never seen or heard of a VX wearing out it's front pads before the rears.
I have replaced my rears twice before the fronts needed it.
Unless they're using a softer compound for the rear pads...

X 2
Had my rear pads replaced a month ago,my front pads still remains relativately new after two years.

Both front and rear were replace the same day back in 2008.