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Brake pedal fading to the floor
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
Oct 9, 2007, 6:34 AM
Post #1 of 6
(10824 views)
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Brake pedal fading to the floor
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We recently purchase a 95 Honda Accord with 175K miles for our teenage daughter. When she was stopped at a light (facing downhill) and the brake pedal began to fade, it eventually it faded to the floor and she bumped into the car in front of her (she said she had noticed, once in a while when sitting a red light, the car would begin to creep forward, but she would just apply alittle more pressure to the brake and the car would stop).
We brought the car to a mechanic, but he can't find anything wrong with it. He said there no leaks in the lines or master cylinder. He said that if there were any problems with the MC or lines, the issue with the pedal fading to the floor would happen all the time (and not just be an intermittent problem).
Is there something he is missing? Is there an electrical malfunction that would cause this to happen?
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jtgreek
Anonymous Poster
Oct 9, 2007, 12:51 PM
Post #2 of 6
(10815 views)
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Re: Brake pedal fading to the floor
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its the master cylinder that needs replacement-has an internal failure.if pedal fades to the floor and there are no leaks found and pedal can be pumped back up -its the master cylinder-you didn't say if it has power brakes or not ,i assume it does....but sometimes when it fails,you will get brake fluid into the brake booster.
replace the master cylinder and bleed the system well
car should be fixed.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 9, 2007, 2:00 PM
Post #3 of 6
(10811 views)
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Re: Brake pedal fading to the floor
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That is so textbook common that you really should question the ability of that mechanic. If you even came close to describing that it's about as close to 100% as you get that the MC is bad! NO - they don't necessarily do it all the time when it first starts or it can be trashed without notice. This person didn't warn you not to drive the car?
T
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
Oct 10, 2007, 5:29 AM
Post #4 of 6
(10808 views)
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Re: Brake pedal fading to the floor
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The car does have power brakes (also ABS). From what I've read from other sources it seems like it would be the mc. Not knowing much about cars, we are deferring to what our mechanic is telling us.
He is driving the car for a few days to see if he can duplicate the problem (there's no way we'd let our daughter use the car until its fixed).
So it is possible for the brakes to work fine, then fade to floor, then work fine again (at least for a while)?
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 10, 2007, 7:17 AM
Post #5 of 6
(10805 views)
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Re: Brake pedal fading to the floor
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Granted you can never say 100% sure of much of anything and YES ABS system can cause unwanted brake pedal fade when it thinks a wheel is skidding. This about can't happen when already stopped as all the wheels are spinning at the same speed which is NOT Spinning. It would have to think one was and the others were not which I suppose is possible. A failure with ABS should set off a light on dash and default to regular braking action.
When just staying stopped - hill or not when you feel a good pedal fall to floor it's almost always the MC. I've never seen otherwise with no leaks demostrated or very low brake fluid level which should cause alarm as to why it is so low.
When power brakes lose power assist the pedal would be hard and you would have to push real hard to get close to the same braking force.
This fading can do it once in a while or just once and stay behaving that way. But notice that once and you don't fool around with it. It doesn't get a second chance. Cars sold in the US new as of 1967 model year have to separate brakes so that you should have some braking action (not much) if there was a complete hydraulic failure in the system and typically front brakes are separated from rear brakes. This should trigger the red brake warning light which may reset the first time or two or go out when brakes aren't used and if the problem is in remission could stay out.
Just your subject line is enough to warrant replacement of the MC with no other cause (leak etc) found. If that wasn't it, it was still responsible work to toss it for a new one. They aren't all that expensive for most cars and this is a lousy place to conserve $ with a warning like that.
Your call,
T
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
Oct 10, 2007, 8:04 AM
Post #6 of 6
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Re: Brake pedal fading to the floor
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I agree, brake problems are not something to be ignored. We'll probably just go ahead and replace the MC (as you said, its not all the pricey).
Our biggest concern is that we replace the MC then have our daughter drive off thinking the problem is fixed only to find out the hard way it was something else.
We'll give our mechanic a few days to drive it around, see if he can get it to happen. If he's still convinced we don't need a new MC but can't offer up any other cause for the problem, we'll go somewhere else for a second opinion.
Thanks for your time and info.
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