The car in question is a 1993 Ford Taurus...Had no sign of any brake problems leading up to the failure. The failure lasted 30-45 seconds. (On a long stretch of highway thank God!) The master cylinder is full of brake fluid and there's nothing dripping to the ground anywhere along the path of the brake lines. I did build some pressure up after the failure...But not for long. Thanks for your help.
2007-08-05 12:48:32 · 6 answers · asked by ORDER 66 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Thanks for all the answers so far...I bought this car used and it was totally checked out...It's hard to imagine that the front calipers were frozen and the car was using 50% of it's braking power as the pedal was so solid and braking power very good. The shop that checked it out would have seen that??? Unless they just froze today. The car was also in pristine condition and not neglected...but you never know what happened in the past. At any rate it's already at the shop for repairs. CRAZY experience!
2007-08-05 13:27:22 · update #1
Sorry but its not a complete system failure... you must have been driving with half of the system already bad...
In 1966 the National Hiway Traffic Safety Association decided by the 1967 Model year all vehicles in the USA must have tandem/dual master cylinder resiviors to make it so front and rear brakes were on two separately sealed and independent systems...
this was to make a 100% brake system failure a 1 in a MIllion chance..
prior to this with the single resivior it could happen and did nasty accidents did happen from neglected brake system......
Most likely the front calipers are bad on your car due to neglect... possible frozen.. and you pedal felt fine because there isn't a fluid loss...
in the bottom of the master cylinder will be a black sludge gritty muddy stuff this has gotten into what is called the residual check valve in the mastersylinder of the section which operates your rear brak shoes...
when this valve sticks in the wrong direction the fluid in stead of being pushed to the rear brakes cycles within the master cylinder itself...
and this situation will feel like toatl brake loss
Your car needs a complete brake job ASAP
Walt
2007-08-05 13:06:07 · answer #1 · answered by Ronk W 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sudden Brake Failure
2016-12-16 06:00:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If pressure builds up in the brake system such as overheating of the brake fluid, the fluid will boil causing no pressure to be activated when the pedal is applied. Another cause is an internal leak inside the master cylinder which can bled back into a brake booster or the seal leaking from the rear of the master cylinder where the pedal push rod is.
2007-08-05 13:13:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The last time I heard of that problem it was a rear wheel cylinder was leaking and sucking air into the system. Happened on Mother in laws car twice. She called Detroit and then took the car back in to dealer and they replaced about everything. Finally found out what it was. You could also have a bad master cylinder too.
2007-08-05 12:53:58 · answer #4 · answered by Fordman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Have the alternator checked. Sometimes the voltage regulator can go bad in the alternator and force to many volts into a battery and burn it out. That could go both ways as a battery can short out and burn up the alternator. Or it could be a bad battery. The car is 4 years old the mileage doesnt matter with batteries
2016-03-12 20:59:08 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Air in the brake lines ? Faulty master cylinder ?
2007-08-05 12:52:40 · answer #6 · answered by Christie C 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋