experienced brake failure today!!!!

[Guest]

Ok guys had a problem today!! I get in my car after school today and start to pull out. I am coming down the road in the parking lot and there is about 100 feet between me and the next car so I hit the gas and start catching up and go to apply the brake since the kid infront of me is stopped. So I press the brake and it goes straight to the floor with no pressure and no brake so i take my foot off the brake and hit it again and it goes to the floor again and then with a whole lot of force the pedal is force up and i mean it came back really hard. so i press it again and it will not move its rock hard and im putting like all of my weight on it and catching up to the car infront of me that is stopped. So i quickly throw it into park and stop like an inch behind his bumper. I press the brake now and it seems to be working so put it back into drive and start going and press the brakes slightly to test them and they are braking now and seem normal and then they kinda got hard and felt like how the ABS is when it kicks in but it locked the tires up and i came to a screeching stop. so i started out and headed home and they didnt do it again but started to grab unevenly when i would brake but i did make it home!! scary what is up with this guys <p>[ 02-12-2002: Message edited by: jimd118 ]

[ronvb]

pdljumper,<BR>What brake lights came on when it happenned?<BR>ABS light or (RED) BRAKE light or both?<BR>search on this site ---many posts on this problem and more on <A HREF="http://www.reatta.net" TARGET=_blank>www.reatta.net</A> <BR>ronvb

[Guest]

Thats the thing there was no brake lights at all.?

[bigrog]

The valves are sticking in the master cylinder/abs assembly. Flushing the brake fluid may clean things up and fix the problem, but the only way to positively gaurantee a fix in a case like this is to overhaul the hydraulic system. Everywhere the brake fluid is. <P> If it were mine, I would flush the fluid, take the brake test, drive it for a while, flush the fluid again, repeat the test, and pay attention to how much debris is present during both flushes. This is, of course, an attempt to be cheap about it. I would suspect the brake fluid is no good with this problem, if you can find a way to test it. The only guaranteed fix is to overhaul the hydraulic system. All of it. If the master/abs system is sticking, think about the calipers sitting at the bottom of the hydraulic circuit.<P> Carefull here about the flush. It might require almost $10 worth of fluid to ensure it is all clean!<p>[ 02-12-2002: Message edited by: bigrog ]

[Guest EDBS0]

<I>Ghost in the machine</I><P>I would not be driving until I was certain it was working properly.<P>Did you try the parking brake or was there too much going on at the time?<P>Did the park clog engage park and you locked up completely or was it a vibrating lurching stop?<P>Fix before you drive again.<P>What brake maintenance have you done since you have had the car?<P>Robert

[padgett]

That is exactly what I would expect to happen if the main valve stuck open. No lights and pedal shoved back hard (2000 psi worth). Seems like about one instance a year is reported here.

[Guest]

No I didnt try the parking brake. Didnt really think about it i just tried to think of any way i could stop and i wasnt moving to fast so just threw it into park.

[Guest]

JMD this problem is NOT new to these cars. I would not do anything short of one of the following. Either replace the ABS unit with a rebuilt and FLUSH FLUSH FLUSH or do as I did and pull the abs unit off and put a regular vacuum booster on. If it stuck once it will stick again. Do You really want to try this again?

[Richard S]

I have to agree with Padgett and Skip. I would run, not walk, to Prior Reman for a rebuilt unit. Bolt it on, flush the system, and you should be good to go. Since you cannot personally rebuild these things, and the cost of even a minor fender-bender is far greater than the rebuilt system, the piecemeal approach cannot be recommended.