HELP!! Brakes went out!!

[stanglifemike]

The pedal is just going to the floor now. I've always had pump it some, and some times at a redlight, the pedal would go to the floor after a minute or so, and I would have to repress the brake pedal and all was well. Yeterday though, on the way home I had nothing. I was near the neighborhood so I was able to get it home and into the backyard. I pulled the front wheels and loosened the line at the caliper. I had my daughter push the brake pedal and fluid was coming out just like it should. So, do you think its my calipers? What are the chances of both front calipers going out at the same time though?? Could it be the booster? Please help, and thanks for any thoughts

[michael bustamante]

sounds like the master cyl. to me. those are all the symptoms

[stanglifemike]

So brake fluid would be going to the calipers even though the master cylinder went out?

[motopatzo]

If your brake fluid is at normal capacity, I would suspect the master-cylinder.

[71tahoe]

Brake fluid under no pressure would still flow from the master cylinder. Once resistance is met in a pressurized system, the fluid pressure will just balance in the MC. (no pedal)

[Longhorn Man]

You need to step back and look over the whole system.
Park it on dry pavement if you can.
Check the master clylinder... is it full... on both halfs?
When you top it off (I'm gonna assume 1/2 of it is bone dry) and pump the pedal, do you hear fluid splattering?
Are you seeing any puddles forming?
look on the back side of your tires... are any of them wet?

There's a LOT more to it than calipers up front and a master cylinder, and any guesses with what little info you gave us... is nothing more than a guess.

Your initial problem;

I've always had pump it some, and some times at a redlight, the pedal would go to the floor after a minute or so, and I would have to repress the brake pedal and all was well.

only indicates having a little air in the system. So this new problem, is a new problem.

[PanelDeland]

"Usually" when a MC goes 'out' it is bypassing fluid around the piston in the MC.If that is what's happening then the fluid will flow out the line or bleeder.This is because the fluid will flow thru the path of least resistance.If you want a sure check you will need to hook a pressure guage to the system.
If you had no brakes then your rears are also not working.

[stanglifemike]

OK cool, thanks for the quick responses guys!! Is it simple to swap out, or anything tricky I should look for. Any special tools, etc..

[hdflstf]

Simple but be sure to bench bleed it to get the air our before you install it.

[stanglifemike]

How do you bench bleed ??

[stanglifemike]

By the way, I put new pads and rotors on the front about 10 months/1500 miles ago

[stanglifemike]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

You need to step back and look over the whole system.
Park it on dry pavement if you can.
Check the master clylinder... is it full... on both halfs?
When you top it off (I'm gonna assume 1/2 of it is bone dry) and pump the pedal, do you hear fluid splattering?
Are you seeing any puddles forming?
look on the back side of your tires... are any of them wet?

There's a LOT more to it than calipers up front and a master cylinder, and any guesses with what little info you gave us... is nothing more than a guess.

Your initial problem;

only indicates having a little air in the system. So this new problem, is a new problem.

Back half of MS was almost empty, first thing I did was top it off. No splattering and no puddles forming. No wet tires

[sameyrasmea72]

Long shot, but one time I had a simular problem and I changed the MC and it did not help any. It turned out to be just the vac. gromet the goes into the booster.

[Longhorn Man]

a vac grommet on a booster shouldn't cause the pedal to go to the floor, it should cause a rock hard pedal that is hard to move down at all.

The rear portion of the master cylinder was empty, and there is no evendence of fluid anywhere?
You probably are looking at a bad master cylinder.
but there's bad news here too.
If you have power brakes, then all that fluid went in the booster, where it is now eating the rubber lining of the diaphram. It will end up popping the booster.
You can run it, but I would recomend getting it replaced. I personally lost an engine due to the instant lean condition when my booster popped.

[stanglifemike]

thanks for the heads up!!